Remember Me?
by Farewellxo
Summary: Jackie suffers an accident and loses her memory of the past two years, finding herself in another town with a different lifestyle; what happens when she returns home to trigger some memories?
1. The Real Fall

A/N: For all of you waiting for the sequel to my story GOLDEN, I'm currently working on it, but I'm not getting enough reviews and won't post the first chapter up without any feedback. In the meantime, I figured, why not write a new plot? The idea for this popped into my head the other day. This story starts out in the seventh season, before any of the ultimatum, breaking up crap between Jackie and Hyde happened. This story is based on the book 'Remember Me?' by Sophie Kinsella.

Disclaimer: I don't own That 70's Show, or Sophie Kinsella stories.

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Today has been a horribly average day.

So far, I have gotten up, gotten ready, and gone to Forman's house to see Steven... no, nothing new at all.

And whenever I'm at the Forman's, all anybody ever does is sit in the basement, watch TV, and occasionally, light up.

As Steven and I were making out on the couch, Eric walked downstairs.

"God, Jackie, be easy on him," he jokes, "he's not gonna have a face anymore if you keep doing that."

"Shut up, Eric," I say as I turn around. "When are you finally gonna leave for Africa?"

"Soon enough." He sits down on the other side of the couch as Steven stands up and goes over to his chair.

"So, Jackie," Eric says, "I heard about your dad's second trial. That's great."

I nod as Steven starts to talk.

"Jackie, your dad's being re-tried? Why didn't I know about this?" he asks.

I shrug in a zen-like manner. "I didn't think it was that important."

To be honest, I really don't talk to Steven about my father too much. I already know that he's not great with words, and I'm worried that if he says something stupid again, it could be the end for us, again.

"Anyway, they're thinking that he may be able to get out of jail this time. I have to go to the court with everybody, though, in place of my mom. She's in Cancun, or something." I frown slightly.

"Your mom's out of town /again/?" Eric asks in disbelief. "Wow, no offense Jackie, but Pam's a horrible mom."

Michael bursts in the back door. "Who said somethin' about Pam?"

"Nice to see you, too, Kelso," Eric says nonchalantly.

"God, you guys, it's freezing out there!" Michael shouts, "I almost fell on the ice, like a zillion times!"

"Well, you're always the guy who's got his feet planted firmly in the ground," Steven says sarcastically.

"Literally," Eric agrees. "Remember that one time when he found some quicksand and decided to stand in it?"

"Oh, yeah!" Michael grins, "And I would have disappeared if it weren't for Hyde. He told me to lay on my back, and at first I thought he was just trying to see if I was stupid enough to do it, but then I realized that it worked!

"Yeah, thank God for that." Steven laughs, and suddenly Kitty walks downstairs.

"Jackie, phone's for you!" she calls, and then puts two hands around her mouth and whispers loudly, "It's the court for your dad!"

"Oh!" I jump up and pick up the receiver next to the couch.

A few minutes later, I'm grabbing my coat and hat and putting my boots back on.

"Jackie, what's wrong?" Steven asks me.

"My dad needs to talk to me... so I have to go to the prison! Oh, God... I hope it's not dirty." I shudder at the thought of what it may be like.

"I can go with you," he offers, "there can be some real creeps down there."

I consider the thought, but then shake my head. Not only will Steven pick a fight if something should happen, but I really don't feel like getting emotional in front of him if what my dad has to say is that important. "No thanks," I say, "I think that I should do this on my own."

I walk over to him and he kisses me goodbye. "Bye," I wave to him, Michael, and Eric, and then shut the door.

Michael wasn't kidding. It really is cold out here. And icy, too. Probably not the best idea to wear heeled boots with this weather.

Even so, I start to rush over to my car, and suddenly my heel slips and I'm falling down slowly... slowly... slowly.

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God, my head hurts. In fact, it's like a combination of the worst hangover of my life mixed with somebody continually dropping a fifty pound weight on my head.

I try to open my eyes, but the lights coming from the window are too bright.

Wait... window? Why am I in bed? Did I ever see my dad?

I just lean my head back further on my pillow and decide to not worry about it.

A few minutes later, I decide that I can't fall asleep, because my pillow is pretty uncomfortable.

I open my eyes, and once I get used to the light, am shocked.

This isn't my room. This isn't Donna's room. And this definitely isn't Steven's room. I'm in an all white room, with nice looking furniture in it.

There's a white couch in front of the window, and a black table with a tray on it next to the bed I'm on. A television set is sitting on a black shelf, so it can be seen in perfect view from the bedside.

Taking this all in, I give a little, but still loud, scream.

It's enough to make all of my head pain come back, but it's also enough for somebody to come rushing through the door.

"Miss Jackie," the woman says, looking alarmed, "what's wrong?"

I look at her. She's a short blonde woman in a nurse's uniform.

Suddenly, I get it. I'm in the hospital.

"Oh, nothing. I just wasn't sure where I was at first. But now I remember," I smile confidently through the pain.

"You do?" A look of shock comes over her face.

"Of course!" I say, and attempt to sit up straighter. "I was leaving my boyfriend's house, but then the court called and told me that my dad wanted to talk to me before the court case, and so I left and it was really icy and then I... I slid and fell on the ice. I just didn't think that the fall would be so bad to put me in the hospital!"

Confusion clouds over the nurse's face, and then a look of relief takes over. "Miss Jackie, you don't remember your accident?" she asks me.

"Accident...?" I wonder out loud.

"Hold on," she says, and exits my room. A few minutes later, she returns with a man at her side, and then leaves again.

"Hello," the man says, stepping closer to me. "We met a few hours ago. I'm Dr. Plier."

I narrow my eyes at him. Why would I remember meeting him? His face doesn't even look remotely familiar to me.

"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person," I say casually, "I've never met you before in my life."

"Ah, that's what I was afraid of," Dr. Plier says as he walks over to my bed and looks over the clipboard in his hands. "You see, Mrs. Ralwine-"

I stop him. "Yes, definitely the wrong person... I'm Jackie Burkhart." Ralwine? As in the famous movie star Alexander Ralwine? He has to be joking.

"Uh..." His face contorts with thought, and then he looks back at me. "Do you have any recollection of being in a car accident?"

"Me? Are you kidding? No way. I've never been in a car accident." What is this crazy man talking about?

"Actually..." He looks around and spots a newspaper, which he picks up. "Can you tell me what year it is?"

What a silly question to ask, I think.

"Of course! It's 1978! I'm not stupid."

Dr. Plier hesitates, and hands me the newspaper. "Look at the date," he instructs.

Hmm... May 19th... 1980?!

This isn't possible. It has to be some sort of gag newspaper.

"1980?" I say in disbelief, and then change my tone to a sarcastic one. "You're funny."

"Mrs. Ralwine, I insist, it's 1980. You're suffering from memory loss from your accident," he says in a sympathetic tone.

"I already told you, I've never been in a car accident. And my last name isn't Ralwine! You have the wrong person!" I yell.

"No, Jackie, I don't." He looks up at me with his eyebrows raised.

Okay, so I have the same first name as this Ralwine person. No big deal, just a coincidence is all.

I give him my best unimpressed expression. "Jackie is a pretty common name," I say coolly.

He opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Excuse me," he says, and walks to answer the door.

I hear Dr. Plier and another man talking quietly, but I can't make out what they're saying.

A few moments later, the door shuts, and Dr. Plier walks back over to my bed.

"You have a visitor," he informs me, "and it's up to you whether or not you want to see him. But I'm warning you, you may be in for a shock."

"Let him in..." I say in a careful tone.

Dr. Plier goes over to the door and opens it.

The man walks over to me, and my jaw instantly drops.

It's Alexander Ralwine. The movie star. In my hospital room. Wanting to see /me/.

"Baby," he says as he walks closer to me, "are you alright?"

I try to speak, but instead I just stare in disbelief.

"A-Alexander? Ralwine?" I manage to stutter.

He gives me a quizzical look. "The doctor warned me about you not remembering some things... but you forgot me?"

"No, I... I didn't /forget/ you. I know who you are. I just don't know why you're here seeing /me/!" I exclaim, but then bring down my tone, as my headache is slowly approaching again.

"Jackie, baby," he puts a hand over mine, "we're married... remember?" He lifts up my left hand to show me a large diamond ring on my finger.

I gasp in amazement. This isn't happening. How did I meet Alexander Ralwine? And /marry/ him?

He frowns at my expression and turns to Dr. Plier. "She really doesn't remember, does she?" he asks.

Dr. Plier shakes his head. "She thought that it was 1978 when she woke up."

"When can she leave the hospital?" Alexander asks.

"By tomorrow, hopefully," Dr. Plier replies, "Just as long as we get the bandages off and everything seems proper."

Alexander nods, as Dr. Plier says, "I think I'll give you two some time to discuss things." He then adds quietly, "It may trigger some of her memory." He exits my room.

"You're a celebrity," I say quietly. "What are you doing in Point Place?"

His nose wrinkles in thought. "Point Place?" Then it hits him. "Oh, the place you grew up in? Baby, don't you remember? You moved to Los Angeles two years ago!" He takes my hand gently. "That's how we met."

I gasp slowly, and check my wrists to make sure I'm not hooked to any IV's or anything. When I see that I'm free, I get out of the bed, and although I'm a little wobbly, I run to the window. Sure enough, there are gigantic buildings outside, a few sandy beaches, and green mountains. In the distance, I see 'Hollywood' spelled out in giant letters on Mount Lee.

"Oh my God," I say slowly, and then I remember what he just said. "How exactly did we meet?"

"You had just moved here," he says, "and you were going to talent agencies everywhere, trying to get a job in the business just like everybody else. You finally got a tiny role in a movie, one that I was starring in. And when you saw me, you freaked out and started telling me how big of a fan you were." He laughs at the memory. "I couldn't resist your cuteness, your charm. Before we knew it, we had gone on a few dates, and in no time we got engaged."

I gave a small smile. "That's a nice story," I say.

"Yeah," he says. "A simple one... but a nice one, too." Alexander walks behind me and inspects the bandages on my head.

"Wow," he comments, "you really got banged up in that accident, huh?"

"I don't remember," I say, "The last thing I remember is leaving to see my dad in prison, and slipping on some ice and falling."

"Really?" He asks in alarm. "That's so cool!"

"No, not at all," I say. "It's confusing and horrible. I've missed out on two years of my life! I don't know anybody now. I don't know if I have a job... where I live..." I pause as a thought hits me. "We don't have any kids, do we?"

Alexander laughs and shakes his head. "No, we don't."

I breath a sigh of relief, and then I think of another thing. "How's Donna doing?" I ask. "Did she and Eric ever get married?"

"Donna?" Alexander thinks for a moment. "I can't say you've ever mentioned a friend named Donna. Or Eric."

"Really?" I ask. That seems so... unlike me. "What about Betsy? I've had to have mentioned her... she's my goddaughter!"

"Nope," Alexander shakes his head, "doesn't ring a bell. Unless you're talking about Betsy Haven... she co-starred with me in my last movie." He grins.

"No." I shake my head as a knock on the door sounds.

"Can I come in?" a female voice asks.

"Sure!" I call.

She comes in, and it's the same nurse that was in my room before.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over," she smiles apologetically at Alexander, "but it was great meeting you, Mr. Ralwine. I'm such a big fan!"

He gives her a smile and turns back to me. "I'm gonna go, but I'll be back tomorrow," he says, and lightly strokes my hand and leans in for a kiss, but I vaguely back away. He gives me a weird look, and I realize what I have just done.

"Oh, no!" I say to him, "Don't take it personally! I just... it's like kissing a stranger, you know?"

He nods. "I can see how that could be weird." He affectionally pats my shoulder and turns around and leaves.

"Bye!" I call out.

Wow, this is weird. I'm married.

I casually glance down at the rock on my finger, and then something hits me.

Steven. We must have broken up... but when? And how?

I have to know. I have to know about my old friends in Point Place. I only saw them yesterday... well, it seems like I did.

I yawn and lean my head back into the pillow. I guess I'll just have to worry about that tomorrow. 


	2. Mr Ralwine

A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews! They're great. Anyway, here's the second chapter.  
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I wake up to a soft knock on the door.

"Mrs. Ralwine?" a voice says. "Can I come in?

"Uh, sure!" I call out.

A nurse comes in, and this one is different from the one last night. She's older, and reminds me a bit of Kitty Forman.

"Sorry if I woke you," she says, "but we have to get your bandages taken off." She gives me a sympathetic smile, rolls a chair from the other side of the room next to my bed, and sits on it.

"Okay," I say, and wonder what I should do... sit there?

"You're going to have to put your head down," the nurse says. I do as she tells me to, and she starts unwrapping the bandages off of my head.

"You look like you've healed a lot," she says. "Luckily, you haven't got a scratch on your face."

Wow. Even a nurse that I just met when I was covered in bandages and bruises realizes how valuable my face is!

"Wouldn't want to put your career to a stop," the nurse adds.

Wait... career?

"Um," I start to say, "I know this is gonna sound weird, but... what's my job?"

The nurse laughs. "Really? You forgot your /job/?" She shakes her head and hands me a magazine once she finishes taking the bandages off. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."

I open it up, see the first page, and gasp.

There's a gorgeous picture of me taking up an entire page. And on the other page, it's all about my accident, and how they hope it doesn't hurt my gigantic modeling career.

That's right, modelin. /Modeling/. I'm a model!

I grin excitedly. "How long have I been doing this?"

"You've been pretty famous for about a year, especially when you married Alexander. I heard that your acting career never quite took off so you took modeling up instead." She looks up at me and beams. "I'm your biggest fan."

"Really?" I smile widely.

The nurse nods. "Actually, I was also wondering if you could sign this for me?" She pulls out a giant black and white picture of me. It's stunning, simply... stunning.

I grab a pen and place the picture on the desk in front of me.

In my best and fastest cursive, I start to scribble.

J-A-C-K-I-E-B-U... wait, that's not right.

I quickly cross off what I have written and rewrite it with my new last name before the nurse can see what I did.

Once I'm finished, I hand the nurse the poster of me.

"Thanks," she smiles brightly. "They're bringing a wheelchair for you right now, and your husband's on the way here," she adds before walking out the door.

I sit and stare at the door for a few moments, until the door pushes open and they put me into a wheelchair.

"Is this really neccessary?" I ask. "I feel fine."

"Can't take any chances, Miss Jackie." The guy that's pushing me out blushes.

Once we ride the elevator to the bottom level, I see Alexander with dark sunglasses on, standing near the door.

"There's no sun in here," I point out once we get by him.

"Doesn't matter. If I don't have these babys on, I'll be ambushed with female fans." He casually looks around. "/Ambushed/."

We're now walking out the door... well, rolling for me. Once we reach the car, I easily stand up and go into it.

Alexander and I are now sitting in the back seat, and a chauffeur is driving.

"This is so... amazing!" I exclaim once we're on the road.

"Really? This car's actually really bad. Got the better ones back at home," he says.

"Ones?" My eyes widen. Sure, I was rich growing up, but... definitely not this rich.

"Of course." He nods.

"Oh my God. Alexander, this is amazing!" I exclaim once again.

"Alexander?" He scrunches up his nose. "Babe, you call me Alex."

"Alex?" I consider it, and then decide it's nice and short. "Alex."

He laughs and looks out the window. "Here we are," he states.

I look out the window. The biggest house I've ever seen is in front of me. It's huge, and is definitely the type of house I had always pictured living in.

I am too stunned to speak. I was /meant/ for this.

"You're surprised?" Alex turns to me in shock. "I was actually thinking of upgrading sometime soon."

"No way! This is fabulous! How can anything be /bigger/?" I ask, and then, in embarrassment, I realize that I sound like a poor person.

"Jackie, baby," he says coolly, "you can't control the size of houses. They just... grow and grow."

We step out of the car, and I hear screaming coming from behind me. I glance back at the gate we drove through. It's crowded with people with cameras, who keep asking if I'm alright, and can they have Alex's autograph.

"Oh my God," I grin.

Alex stares at me. "This is ridiculous," he says. "How can you not remember this all? You seem so...fascinated."

"It never existed to me, almost," I say. "I just remember... Eric, and Donna, and... Steven."

"When did they say your memory will come back?" he asked.

"They said it depends. It may take years. It might never come." I give him an uneasy look.

He looks at me in shock. "Really?"

I nod and walk through the door that somebody has opened for me.

Alex follows me. "I have a rehearsal to go to now, if you don't mind," he says to me. "You'll find your way around, just ask one of the maids." He walks over to me and kisses me goodbye. Weirdly enough, I let him.

A maid walks in as he starts to walk out the door.

"Miss Jackie?" she asks. "Genevieve just called. She said she's coming over since she hasn't seen you since the accident."

Genevieve? ...I'll ask Alex.

"Alex!" I call, hoping that he hasn't left yet.

I hear him running up the stairs. "What's wrong?" he asks.

"Who's Genevieve?" I ask.

"Genevieve?" A look of fear crosses his face. "Um, she's your best friend... why?" he asks with the strangest expression on his face.

"She's coming over to talk to me."

"No!" Alex runs over to me. "I mean... she did betray you, after all."

"Betray me?" I ask in alarm. "What did she do?"

"She... she hit on me. And then, she called you a slut. And... she stole a lot of stuff from you. Was always jealous, you know." Alex raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I guess I'll just call it off then," I say cautiously.

"Alright, bye." He leaves.

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A half hour later, Genevieve arrives, and I go downstairs, ready to tell her off. Until I see the Prada gift bag in her hand.

"Genevieve!" I beam, waving her upstairs.

"Is it true?" she asks frantically. "You forgot /everything/?"

"How did you know?" I ask.

She pulls a magazine out of her purse with the headline "Jackie Ralwine Goes Blank."

I grab it and look intensely. "Well, it's true," I say. "I don't even know you. I only know you from what Alex has told me."

She gasps. "Alex?"

"Yup," I say, glaring at her. "He told me everything."

"Everything?" She looks worried. "Well, what are you going to do about it then?"

"I don't know. Maybe ask you to leave." I narrow my eyes at her.

"Me?" Her eyes grow wide. "What about that rat of a husband you've got?"

I gape at her. "Rat? Excuse me, but you /hit/ on that rat, thank you very much. And called me a slut? And /stole/?"

"What?!" She looks up at me in alarm. "First off, I would never steal from you. I have enough money as it is. And second, I never hit on him! I'm married too! I think I know what he was doing," Genevieve says as we both sit down on the couch.

I glance up at her. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is that two days before your accident... well, I told you that I found out Alex was cheating on you with his costar... you told him off and said you were leaving him."

I gasp slowly. "Tell me more."

"Alright, well... the paparazzi never found out, luckily. Those pests," she says angrily, and then gets back onto the subject. "Anyway, obviously, he denied ever cheating, but I actually /saw/ him kissing Georgia DeTraino..." She fades off slowly to inspect my reaction.

My mouth is hung open.

She continues, "So I guess when he went to the hospital, he was going to apologize, but when he found out that you lost your memory, he decided to act like it never happened." She shrugs. "And I bet that's why he didn't want me to see you... he wouldn't let me go to the hospital!" she cries angrily.

"Oh my God..." I shake my head slowly. "This doesn't even feel like it's happening to me. It feels like I'm reading it in some magazine or something."

"It'll be in one, soon enough." Genevieve shrugs again. "It's weird... like, to Hollywood you two are the golden couple... but in real life, he's just a conceited jerk who treats you like crap."

I vigorously nod in agreement, then think this over. "You could be lying to me," I say. "Alex could be right. And if I... if I leave him, I might make the biggest mistake of my life."

She shakes her head. "I swear, Jackie. I'm telling the truth."

"Do you... did I ever tell you about my life before Hollywood?" I ask uneasily.

"You know, once or twice, yeah. You mentioned missing being home, and how you regretted telling them off and being a jerk to them when you left."

"I was a jerk?" I ask, and frown. "What about... what about... Steven? How we broke up?"

"I'm not sure how you two broke up," Genevieve says, "but you used to mention him all the time last year. How you hated him... but I think you mentioned him too much to hate him." She grins slyly at me.

"I don't know what to say..." I trail off slowly, a crash of longing passes over every part of my body.

I do miss them all. I miss making fun of Donna, with her knowing that I'm actually kidding. I miss the Forman home... I wonder how Africa went for Eric? I miss Michael, and all of his goofy antics that made him special. I miss Fez, the crazy foreign guy who worshiped me. I miss Betsy, my goddaughter... I wonder how big she is now? And most of all, I miss Steven. Technically, in my mind we're still dating. He's done nothing to make me hate him. I've done nothing wrong. I miss his touch, and kiss, and the way he'd hold me when I sat on his lap.

"Sounds like you need to pay Wisconsin a visit," Genevieve suggests, "maybe you could use a little reminder of where you came from. And make sure the cameras don't follow."

That actually sounded like a good idea. "You know, for a rich girl, you're pretty nice!" I comment. "And clever!"

"What can I say?" Genevieve says, "I'm perfect." She grins. "Now let's go check out your closet!"

This is the type of girl I love. She's just like me! "Sounds good!" I smile widely and decide to buy plane tickets tomorrow morning.

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A/N: There you have it, chapter two. Feedback is greatly appreciated, so please review! Flames welcome! 


	3. Familiar Faces

The night came and went, in my opinion.

I slept in the guest room, because I felt it was a little weird to be sleeping with a cheating stranger. Alex didn't mind too much, anyway.

Now it's morning, and I'm wondering how to tell Alex that I'm leaving. That I have a ticket for tomorrow, at 8:00 in the morning, for Kenosha. And from there, I'll just drive back to Point Place... back home. Where I belong. With my friends and my boyfriend... well, sort of boyfriend. At least I can get some answers.

"How'd you sleep?" Alex asks me as we sit down on the bar stools at the counter.

"I slept really well!" I exclaim. "That bed was amazing!"

"Memory foam," Alex comments. "It works wonders. Space age crap. Fairly expensive these days, not that it matters to us." He smirks.

"Oh... yes!" I smile nervously.

"Have any plans for today?" he turns to me.

"Uh... no, not yet."

"By the way, you told Genevieve to leave yesterday... right?" Alex asks nervously.

"Um... kind of. We talked."

He sits straight. "What did she say?"

"Oh, you know. She told me about how she would never call me those things, or steal. Because she's rich too," I point out. "So I forgave her. Then we went shopping."

"Nothing else?" he asks quickly.

"Um..." I pause, pretending to think. "Nope, not a thing."

He raises his eyebrows.

"Unless... she was supposed to tell me something?" I ask nonchalantly.

"No," he says coolly. "Not that I know of."

"So... um, Alex?" I turn to him with a nervous look on my face.

"I was thinking that... I should maybe go home for a while. Well, my old home. I just... need to figure out what I've missed out on." I nervously play with my hair.

"Miss out on? Believe me, you're making up for all lost time in this city; in this house. It's nice, clean, and has everything you ever wanted in it. And most of all, me." He smiles proudly and points to himself.

I try not to sneer at him, and then remember what I'm trying to tell him. "It's just... I need to know where I went wrong. And why I left. Nobody knows but them. Plus, it'll be nice to go there, and see my old friends."

"But I don't want to go! Wisconsin is so... ugly!" He frowns at the thought.

"That's the thing!" I smile, "I want to go alone! For... my memory's sake."

"Well, I'm more than happy to stay. But, how many bodyguards shall we send... maybe four, five?" He counts on his fingers.

"No! None!" I say in a rush, then sheepishly grin. "I'm not used to this. I want to be alone."

"Well, I guess I can get one of the jets ready. But not the really nice one," he adds.

"No, I have a plane ticket," I say.

He looks at me in utter disgust. "Plane ticket?"

I have finally found somebody shallower than me.

"Yes!" I shout, exasperated. "A plane ticket!"

"You can't ride on a damn plane!" he shouts at me. "Are you insane? They're nasty and dirty and full of... people!"

I pause and touch my head slowly. "I think I'm getting a memory... it's of... Genevieve... telling me something..."

Alex freezes. "Plane ticket!" he yells, "Why, I'd be happy to pay for it, too! First class sound alright?"

"I've already got it," I say, holding it in the air.

"Oh..." he stops and thinks of something to say. "Well... how long will you be there for?"

"I don't know. Depends." I shrug.

"Alright," he says cautiously, "well, I'm off to the set. See you tonight." He walks over and kisses me. I hesitate to kiss back.

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ONE DAY LATER...

I've done it. I've left Hollywood. And my flight just landed in Kenosha.

Wow, it's nice to see the Wisconsin vegetation. Just wait until I get to my familiar home. It'll be amazing, even though it feels like I was just there a few days ago.

As I'm walking out of the airport, somebody screams my name.

I whip around, and suddenly I'm bombarded by people holding pads of paper and pencils.

I throw on my biggest pair of sunglasses in my bag, and run out with my luggage, as fast as I can.

Suddenly I realize that I have no car. Oh my God, wow.

"Kenosha Taxi Service!" a man yells behind me.

I turn around quickly and head toward him. He's a tall guy, with long hair. He's holding a sign that has a picture of a yellow cab on it.

"Can you get me to Point Place?" I ask breathlessly.

"I sure can. Say, you look quite familiar. Aren't you famous or something?" he asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Famous?" I place a hand over my heart and laugh fakely. "No, sorry. Thanks for thinking that, though!"

"You look just like that model... Jackie... oh God, what's her last name? She's married to that movie star," he says.

"Don't know who you're talking about. Sorry," I smile apolegetically as he leads me to the cab.

"What's your name, now?" the guy asks me.

"Um..." I pause and rack through my brain. "Donna. Donna Pinciotti."

He turns around and narrows his eyes at me. "I know Donna Pinciotti. And you sure aren't her."

I stare in disbelief. "Okay... I am Jackie Ralwine," I admit.

"I knew it!" He pumps his fist in the air.

"Now, please get me to Point Place? I need to get to the Forman's house!" I plead.

"Forman? As in Kitty and Red?" he asks me.

"Yeah," I say in surprise.

"Wow... you know them?"

"Obviously," I say as I flip my hair.

"I'm Randy," he says, looking at me through the rearview mirror. "I dated Donna way back when. I actually worked for her friend's record store."

"Wait... Donna and Eric broke up?" I ask in disbelief. "And wait... Steven?"

"Yeah," he says, "Steven Hyde. I worked at Grooves for some time."

"Oh my God," I gasp.

"You... know him or something?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say, sighing as I picture Steven's face once he sees me. Maybe he'll run up to me and kiss me, just like in the movies. Then again, maybe not. Since I'm married and all.

Randy raises his eyebrows at me. "You were with him once or something?" he asks as he sees my face.

"Yes," I smile and think of how it seems like just a few days ago I was in his arms.

"It's funny. I can't imagine Hyde being with a girl like you. At least from what I remember him by," Randy says. "He always seemed like a guy who liked his girls... skanky, trashy." He grins.

"Remember? Seemed?" I start to panic. "Did he like... die or something?"

Randy laughs. "No, don't worry. Nah, I just lost contact with them over the past few months. I live out here in Kenosha now, with my girlfriend."

"Okay." I breathe out a sigh of relief.

Ten minutes pass and suddenly I find myself in front of the Forman house.

I pay Randy and get out of the cab. Wow, everything's still the same. The Vista Cruiser's in the driveway, and the basketball hoop's still up.

I quickly run to the door and knock a few times. I wait about a minute, then suddenly the door opens, and Red Forman is standing in front of me.

"Well, well," he says, "if it isn't Jackie Burkhart."

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Red lets me into the house and sits me down at the kitchen table.

"Everybody's out," he says, "but I'm sure they'll be here within the hour for dinner."

Ten minutes later, Kitty comes into the house with groceries in tow. The instant she sees me, she drops them and screams.

"Oh my God, Jackie, is that you?" She runs over to me and hugs me. It's nice to feel welcome, I think.

"Look at our little supermodel, Red!" she calls out to him in the living room. "She's been in the magazines!"

I smile. "It's great to see you, Mrs. Forman."

"So what brings you here?" Kitty asks. "I hear your married to that Ralwine fellow... boy, is he a hunk!" Kitty laughs

"Actually, Mrs. Forman," I say, sitting down at one of the stools, "I've had a little... accident."

"Oh dear," Kitty frowns and takes a step closer to me. "What do you mean?"

"I got into a car accident," I explain, "And... my memory's gone. And... the last thing I remember is getting ready to go to court to visit my father... and I slipped on some ice and fell."

Kitty gasps. "I remember that day!"

"Really?" I say, "I'd be really grateful if you'd tell me about it."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()FLASHBACK()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Jackie laid on the ice cold ground, shivering as blood gushed from her knee.

"Steven!" she called. Suddenly, Kitty, Kelso, Fez, and Hyde appeared in the doorway.

Hyde rushed over to her. "Jackie, what happened?"

"I... I slipped on the ice and fell. And my knee is bleeding, and my ankle hurts really bad," she said as hot tears fell down her face.

"Shh, doll, it's okay," he said quietly. "Can you walk on it?"

Jackie tried to stand up but fell to the ground, crying in pain.

"Don't worry, Jackie, this happened to me once... or six times, and I'm fine. Nothing's even wrong with my head or anything." Kelso proudly grinned.

Jackie ignored Kelso. "Steven, I think it might be broken," she said.

"Eric, get the car started!" Hyde called.

Eric rushed to the Vista Cruiser. Kitty rushed over and sat down beside Jackie. She carefully touched her ankle, which caused Jackie to let out a cry of pain again. "That's definitely broken," Kitty said.

Hyde reached down and picked Jackie up, making sure not to twist her ankle in any other way.

Fez opened the car door for them, and Hyde laid Jackie down across the backseat. Luckily, she was small enough to not of the door.

"Steven, where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm just going in the front seat. Me and Eric are gonna take you to the hospital." Hyde patted her shoulder and opened up the passenger door for himself.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()END FLASHBACK()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Wow..." I say in awe. "So, it was broken, then?"

"Yes," Kitty nods. "But you hung in there! I just remember how hard it was to get you used to the crutches." She laughs at the memory.

"I wish I could remember," I say sadly as the kitchen door opens.

Donna, Eric, Fez, and Steven walk in the door.

"Sorry we're late, Mom, we just-" Eric stops talking at the sight of me.

"Oh my God," Donna breathes. "/Jackie/?!"

"My goddess!" Fez gasps.

Steven just stares... at least, I think he does. I can't tell from behind the glasses.

"I'm back, you guys!" I jump up and hug Donna, but she doesn't seem to be hugging me back.

I back away and narrow my eyes at her cautiously.

"Eric?" I turn to him and open my arms, but he waves me away.

"Steven?" He just ignores me and sits down at the table.

"Fez?" Fez is more than happy to oblige and hug me. Once I let go, I sit at the table.

"Jackie, not to be rude or anything, but..." Donna pauses. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

I stare in shock. I wasn't expecting to be greeted this way. As I open my mouth to speak, Kitty beats me to it.

As she tells them about my memory loss, they squint their eyes at me.

"What a load of bull," Steven mumbles.

"Steven?" I plead. "I'm serious!"

"You mean to tell me." Eric points at me with his fork. "That you don't remember /anything/?"

I shake my head and shrug.

"You don't remember me going to Africa? Kelso moving? Chicago? Sam?"

I look at him with doubt in my eyes. "You went to /Africa/?" I stare at him. "Michael... he moved?" I feel my eyes fill with small tears. "And what's Chicago? Who's Sam?"

They all turn to stare at Steven.

"What?" I ask, willing myself not to cry at the events that I feel I have missed.

"Don't even ask me about it," he says quietly.

Fez interrupts, "I have every one of your posters!"

I roll my eyes at him and turn back to Steven. "What is this?"

I see his jaw tensing, a dead giveaway that he's refraining from yelling. He always does that with me... or... did.

"Steven," I say quietly, "please. You have to tell me."

He sighs as though I'm being the biggest annoyance in the world to him right now. "Maybe," he says. "After dinner."

"She really doesn't remember, does she?" Donna asks. "She doesn't remember leaving us, and being a total bitch whenever we'd try and contact her!"

I stare across the table at her. "What?" I say, my voice sounding very small.

"Please, Jackie," Donna says. "Even if you did forget, that doesn't change who you are now. What you've done." She crosses her arms and leans back in her chair.

I try to prevent tears from coming out of the corners of my eyes. "What... what did I do?" I hate how tinny and congested my voice sounds.

"You ignored us!" Donna yells. "You totally ignored us whenever we'd try to contact you once you left! You called us... poor!"

"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason why!" I yell as angry tears pour down my face. "You don't even know what I'm going through right now!"

"Please," Donna scoffs from across the table, "being a super rich model with a famous husband is so easy. Then you get in one little accident and you have to come back here and annoy us!"

Now, Eric is trying to calm Donna down as Red, Fez, and Kitty sit and stare speechlessly. Steven just ignores us and continues eating.

"No!" I yell. "You don't know what it's like! I wake up one morning, thinking that it's 1978 and that I just had a little slip-and-fall incident! I think that I'm in Wisconsin, with my friends and family! I thought... I thought that I was still dating Steven! I didn't know... that everything changed!" I angrily wipe a tear from my cheek and my voice gets softer. "I wake up to find that my old friends hate me. That my husband is a cheating liar. That my boyfriend... isn't my boyfriend anymore. That I only have one friend, of all the people in the universe. And... she told me to come here."

They all look up at me in shock.

"Cheating liar?" Fez asks, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that... he cheated on me. And I found out before the accident. And once he found out I had memory loss... he lied and pretended it never happened. But this doesn't go to the tabloids." I glare across the table.

"Oh my God," Kitty breathes. "I have the hottest piece of gossip!"

I glare in her direction.

She pauses. "That's only for my pleasure of knowing," she adds quickly.

I smile in approval, then glance over at Steven, who is still not looking at me.

00000000000000000000000000HYDE'S POV000000000000000000000000000

Who does she think she is? Just walking in on us all... just when I thought I had forgotten about her. At least, somewhat.

Stupid Hollywood bull crap. She looks all... fake, somehow. Beautiful, yeah, but... she lost something.

First thing I noticed when I saw her sitting there is that her hair was longer. It was shoulder length when she left, now it was down to the middle of her back almost.

Her boobs were bigger, which was obviously from plastic surgery. And her eyes... no sparkle. And I sound like a damn homo right now.

I'm trying not to look at her, but I can feel her glancing toward me every so often. She's talking about how she thought it was '78, and about how her husband is cheating on her.

Bastard. I thought only Kelso was stupid enough to cheat on Jackie.

"Steven," she's saying now, "will you please talk to me now?"

I sigh. I really don't feel like reliving our break up. But whatever, I guess.

"Fine," I say, walking down to the basement.

000000000000000000000000000JACKIE'S POV000000000000000000000

I follow behind Steven, pleased that he's listening to me.

Once we're down the stairs he turns to me.

"Now, sit down," he says, pointing to the couch.

I do as I'm told.

"You wanna know what happened?" he asks.

"Yes!" I say, "Maybe it will trigger my memory."

"Okay, well." He clears his throat. God, I miss him, I think as I watch him pace.

"Me and you," he starts, "broke up because... you wanted to move." He says the last part slowly.

"What are you talking about?" I say, "I'm almost positive that's not what happened."

He looks up in shock and takes off his glasses, opening them and closing them. "I'm pretty sure that's what happened."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You're lying."

"God, Jackie, I'm not lying! Why would I lie about that?" he asks angrily.

"Because you're playing with your glasses," I smile. "You only do that when you lie."

He slowly looks up at me and puts his glasses back on. "What do you know?" he asks quietly.

"Everything!" I lean back on the couch and put my feet up on the table. "To me, it's like we're still dating. I remember it all."

I look at his face, which displays an alarmed look that he's trying to hide. I don't know what comes over me, but a sudden rush of affection rushes through my veins.

"In fact," I say as I stand up from the couch, "it seems perfectly normal to me, if I do this." I wrap my arms around him and kiss him suddenly.

He pushes me off of him. I stare back in shock.

"Jackie," he mutters, "you can't do this. You don't... know." He swallows hard.

"I think I have a right to know," I say quietly.

"You really wanna know?" He raises his eyebrows.

I nod slowly.

"Alright. It all started when you were offered this job..." 


	4. Memories I Can't Remember

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! If there are any scenarios/suggestions you'd like to see or reccommend, feel free! And, don't forget to review!

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A half hour passes and soon I'm standing before Steven with my mouth hanging open.

"How did..." I trail off. "Why did you do that? Leave for Vegas?"

"Dunno." Steven said. "I didn't even remember marrying Sam. Never really cared for her much, we fought too often. You hated her. You two would always burn each other, too."

I roll my eyes. "I just can't believe it... you were gonna propose to me?" I give a small smile.

"Maybe," he says as he looks around the room nervously. "If Kelso wasn't there."

"I was not going to do it with Michael," I say defiantly. "I know I wouldn't."

"I don't believe you," Steven says. "But if you're so sure, why don't you just ask Kelso yourself?"

"Give me his number and I'll do just that," I snap and push past him, walking up the stairs.

Steven sighs and follows me. Once we reach the kitchen, he shows me a number on a piece of paper, so I grab the phone and dial it. Somebody picks up on the second ring.

"Hello?" It's a girl's voice.

"Hello, is Michael Kelso there?" I ask.

"Um... yes. May I ask who's calling?"

I sigh and tap my foot impatiently. "One of his old friends. Just get Michael."

"Fine," she says in a mean manner, and then calls for Michael.

"Hey," he says. It sounds like he's out of breath.

"Michael! Hi, it's me, Jackie!" I say happily.

"Oh my God..." He breathes in sharply. "Brooke, that was Jackie!" He quickly returns back to the phone and says, "You're famous!"

"Obviously. Anyway..." Hm, how am I going to say this? "You remember that one night in Chicago?" I ask.

"Oh yeah." I can just see that stupid grin on his face, but it puts a smile on mine. "The night I broke you and Hyde up."

"Well... that's what I was wondering." Okay, here goes. "Were we actually gonna... do anything?"

"Well, yeah!" Michael shouts.

"Michael," I say in a warning tone. "Tell me the truth."

"Well... you weren't going to, /I guess/, but you'd be into it at the end." He laughs. "But then Hyde came by so I ran off before he could hurt me again."

"Steven!" I call as soon as I hear this.

"Wait, you're with Hyde?" Michael asks. "Like, are you /in/ Wisconsin?"

"Um... yeah." I wait for Steven to walk in. I can hear him approaching.

Michael interrupts my thought. "Dude, I'm so coming to see you! I thought you didn't talk to the Formans anymore!" He stops. "You are at the Formans, right?"

"Yeah," I say, and then turn to see Steven, who just walked into the kitchen. 'I was right', I mouth to him.

"Whatever," Steven mutters.

"You could have married me!" I whisper harshly at him.

"Yeah, well, Jackie, that never happened! Too bad!" He storms off.

"Wait... were you and Hyde just fighting?" Michael asks.

"I guess," I say.

He laughs. "Some things never change." He then changes the subject. "Hey, so I'm gonna drive to Point Place tomorrow. Will you be there?"

"Of course." I smile even though he can't see me.

"Awesome!" he yells, and I wince and cover my ear. "Hey, Brooke! We're going to see Jackie tomorrow!"

I hear Brooke sigh in the background. I hear a little kid talking, too. It must be Betsy.

"Anyway, Michael..." I turn to see Steven standing in the hallway, watching me. "I've got to go. See you later. Bye." I hang up and turn back to Steven. "What do you want?" I say rudely.

"Nice to see you're back to your normal self," Steven comments.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snap.

"Rude comments toward me. Guess we're back to where we ended." He smirks.

"You, shut up." I raise my chin towards him. "I know why I hated this place now. You tainted it for me, I bet."

"Whatever," he says and walks down to the basement.

I sigh dramatically and head over to the living room where Kitty and Red are watching TV. I flop onto the couch next to Kitty.

"Now, Jackie, what's wrong?" Kitty asks me.

"Ugh... it's just Steven," I say and tuck my hair behind my ear.

"What did he do to you? Did he say something nasty?" Kitty asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "He was being ignorant. And I found out all the stuff I missed. Like... the proposal... Sam."

"Wait," Kitty stops me. "Proposal? You mean when Michael proposed to you?"

"No, I was talking about when... wait, what?" I freeze.

"He proposed to you at Red and I's anniversary party. And you said no, thank God." Kitty laughs. "No offense, but that boy is dumber than a tree stump!"

I laugh in awe. "Oh my God. But no, I was talking about how Steven was gonna propose to me but didn't when..." I stop.

"He was gonna propose to you?" Now it's Kitty's turn to be shocked. "What?"

"You didn't know that?" I narrow my eyes. "He was gonna propose in Chicago."

"I thought he was only going for a visit!" Kitty exclaims. "Oh my God, why did Michael have to ruin it all? Steven showed emotion, love!" She laughs and turns to me. "To be quite honest, I always liked you two together. You brought out the best in each other."

I wrinkle my nose in disgust but then remember how it seemed like last week we were together... and I was happy. /I guess/. Then I think about him marrying a stripper. I frown. "It's just weird... it seems... I just... I don't know."

"Oh, Jackie." Kitty sighs and smiles slightly. "I hope that you two work things out."

I consider it, but then shake my head. "Fighting with him is so much more fun," I say. "I know what makes him uneasy and I'll use it to my advantage. In fact..." I stop talking and jump out from where I'm sitting, running towards the basement.

"Jackie! Jackie, no!" Kitty's yelling toward me, but I ignore her.

000000000000FLASHBACK000000000000

Jackie Ralwine stood in the entrance to an immaculate building on the corner of La Cienega, waiting for the photographers and other magazine people to come for her interview.

"Alex!" she cried, "Why do these /poor/ people take forever?"

"I don't know, Jackie." He shook his head slowly. "Maybe it's because they run out of gas because they can't afford it."

Jackie thought about this and nodded. "You're probably right."

The couple stood there for a few more moments until a car beeped its horn. Jackie looked up to see an El Camino pulling up to the building. Her heart started to race. That couldn't be... him, could it?

"Alex," she muttered quietly, "let me hide behind you."

"Whatever you say, honey." Alex moved in front of his wife as she inspected the guy stepping out of the car. Boots, old jeans... Jackie knew this wasn't good. She cowered behind Alex as her heartbeat increased faster.

The man stepped out of the car and pulled his sunglasses off, camera in tow.

Jackie gasped as he stepped out of the car, for she knew now that this wasn't Steven Hyde. It was a man whom she had never seen before -a typical hippie- coming to take pictures for the magazine.

000000000000END FLASHBACK00000000000000

"Oh my God," I breathe. "I just remembered something!" Now what do I do... call Alex? Definitely not.

"Jackie, honey, what did you say?" I hear Kitty call.

"I remembered something!" I rush over and give her every last detail of the memory.

"You thought that man was Steven?" Kitty laughs. "What would he be doing in California? And why was your heart racing so much?" She gives me a suspicious, teasing look, followed by a smile.

"Oh Mrs. Forman," I say, "I was just nervous. I think." I go to bite my nail, but quickly stop when I see how flawless and pink my nails are.

"Was somebody talking about me?" I hear a voice call. My heart starts to race again. I turn around and sure enough, Steven's in the doorway.

"Jackie remembered something!" Kitty exclaims. "Isn't that great?"

"Fantastic," Steven mutters.

The knob on the front door turns, and Donna and Eric walk in. "Oh my God, Mom, we just got the-" Eric stops midsentence and notices Donna glaring at me.

I don't know what to do but sit helplessly. Normal Jackie would glare back, but for some reason, I'm feeling... not like Normal Jackie.

The tension in the room seems to grow until Kitty speaks up. "Come on, kids. Leave her alone; she's not feeling too great."

Donna just rolls her eyes and sits down on the other side of the room, avoiding all eye contact with me now. Eric's quick to follow.

"Now, since we all didn't get a chance to talk yesterday," Kitty laughs nervously, "Why don't you all fill Jackie in on what she's missed?"

Donna starts angrily, "We wouldn't have to fill her in if she-" Eric stops her.

"What Donna's trying to say," Eric says, gesturing toward Donna with his hand, "is that she's very angry that the devil... stopped talking to us. And that when we tried, she blew us off."

Donna hits him in the arm. "You make it sound like I care."

Eric turns to her and throws his hands in the air. "I thought you did?"

"No," she spits out quickly.

"Aw, Donna..." I say, smiling, "you were upset that we lost contact!"

"No, I wasn't," Donna says angrily. I get really quiet after that, because she's kind of scaring me.

"So, uh, Mom," Eric says lightly. "We just went to the best pizza place ever!"

"Oh, really!" Kitty exclaims. "Where'd you go?"

They all continue on about the pizza place, and my mouth waters. Pizza... that sounds good. I feel like I haven't had it in ages. Then I remember hearing Mrs. Forman say something about there being some in the fridge earlier that day. Suddenly, I stand up and run to the kitchen.

They all turn to watch me leave with puzzled expressions, but I don't care.

Once I make it to the refridgerator, I open it up and grab a slice of pizza from a box.

"What are you doing?" A voice asks behind me.

I narrow my eyes at Steven. "What do you care?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Just wondering. I thought you didn't eat bread or something."

I give him a weird look and throw the pizza in the microwave.

"Jackie, what are you warming up?" Kitty asks me while stepping into the kitchen.

"Pizza," I admit. "It sounded good."

Kitty gasps. "I thought you didn't eat carbs?"

"What do you mean? I'm always in shape, so what does it matter?" I ask as the microwave beeps.

"Well, none, I guess." Kitty shrugs awkwardly. "But I wouldn't want you to break something you've been doing for over a year now. It was all in the magazines before and everything. You were on a health kick."

I take a bite of the pizza and raise my eyebrows. "No harm done there," I say, and sit down at the table and then face Steven. "How did you know that I didn't do that? I thought you didn't read anything press-related?" I smile teasingly in his direction.

He looks away, embarrassed. "Sometimes I see the odd article," he says, "out of the corner of my eye."

I grin at his embarrassment. I can see right through him.

"What?" he asks, sounding irritated.

"Nothin'." I smile and take another bite of my pizza.

"Yeah, well whatever, Jackie," Steven says and walks back into the living room where Red, Eric, and Donna still are.

I can hear them talking about me. Donna's swearing a lot, and I heard her say something about how Alex probably is glad to have me away and that's why he didn't bother to come. I just roll my eyes and continue eating.

"She seems so full of herself," Donna's saying. "Just like, the way she stands. I can't believe she expects us to just accept her into our lives again. No way," Donna repeats to herself.

Eric and Steven just shake their heads. "I'd just let it go, Donna," Eric says. "She'll be out of here before you know it."

A sudden heaviness falls onto my heart. I guess I hadn't considered going to back Los Angeles... my new home now, I guess.

Suddenly, I find myself standing up and walking into the living room. "I'm not leaving," I say defiantly. "I won't leave until I have a clean slate with you guys."

Donna rolls her eyes. "Oh my God," she mutters, and walks into the other room.

"Donna!" I run after her. "Okay... ignoring you, or whatever I did... sure, it was pretty mean of me. But I'm really sorry for it, and I miss you guys, and I have no friends here to talk to but Mrs. Forman, and I'm afraid to leave the house because I'm afraid that I'll-"

Donna stops me. "Okay, fine. I get it."

I pause. "I met Randy," I say quietly.

Donna narrows her eyes. "Randy? How do you know about him?"

"He drove my taxi here," I say.

"Taxi? He drives a taxi?" She stops and laughs. "/You rode/ in a taxi?"

I giggle. "Isn't it crazy?"

She give a small smile. "I did miss you, Jackie," she finally admits.

"And I missed you too," I say. "At least, I'm pretty sure I did. And I needed to come home."

"Yeah." Donna nods vigorously in agreement. "You did."

I smile at her. "So... we're friends then?"

She stops and thinks. "Hm..." She taps her chin thoughtfully.

"Donna!" I say, exasperated, and laugh.

"Yeah." She laughs. "Friends."

I lean in and hug her. She's still way taller than me, and of course she's wearing flannel. But I'd better not make fun of her right now. It's nice to have a familiar friend around.

We walk back into the living room, causing Steven and Eric to look at us.

"What's the verdict?" Eric asks.

"We're friends again." I smile over at Donna.

"Good," Steven says. "Angry Donna was starting to scare me," he jokes.

I smile at this, but upon seeing me smile, Steven's disappears.

I open my mouth to say something rude to him, but I'm interrupted by Kitty.

"Now Jackie," she says. "I'm afraid we're out of extra bedrooms... I hate to ask you this, but can you sleep on the basement couch?" She gives me an uneasy look. "Or, if you don't like that, I can make Steven sleep on the couch, and you can sleep on his cot."

I smile over at her. "The couch is fine," I say, even though I'm thinking quite the opposite. I just don't want them to think I've turned into a brat... well... a bigger one.

Kitty stares at me in disbelief. "Are you sure, honey?"

"Positive." I grin and turn back to Donna. "So how are your parents? Is your dad still with Joanne?"

"Actually... no. Joanne was out of the picture a long time ago. My mom came back about a year or so ago. They're back together." Donna smiles.

"Really?" I can't believe this. "That's great! I can't believe I've missed so much, though."

Donna just shrugs, unsure of what to say, probably.  
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Well, it's now eleven o'clock. Donna just left and Eric just went to bed upstairs, along with Kitty. Red was watching a Packers game upstairs.

So now it's just Steven and me. We're sitting in the basement, me on the couch and him on the chair, watching TV.

I stare intently at the TV in thought, although I'm not paying attention to what's going on during the show. I'm not even quite sure of what we're watching actually.

How could he just run off? I can't believe he's mad at /me/. I guess I never left on good terms, not that I can blame myself. I can't believe how torn apart the group was... I mean, Donna and Eric had broken up? That's just crazy. That's just...

"Are you tired?" Steven interrupts my thoughts. "I can go in my room if you want to."

"No." I wave my hand in front of me to show him that it's no big deal. "It's fine."

He just looks toward me and nods. "Okay."

God, Steven. I miss him so much. The way he was, though. Not this mean, weird, harsh Steven. I swear, I'm about to call him Hyde. I miss when he was sweet... although it was only in private. When I made him happy and he made me happy, even though we'd never admit it. The sweet side to him. The side that nobody but me ever saw. The side that must have disappeared right when I did. 


	5. No Carbs

It's morning now, and I wake up on the basement couch in the Forman basement. At first, I think that I'm at my house... or, my old house in 1978. Quickly, though, I realize that those memories passed through and a lot of things are different. I frown at the thought.

I stand up, slightly stretching, and suddenly remember that Steven is sleeping in the other room. I quietly tiptoe to the door and open it.

In the room is Steven, who is obviously asleep on his bed. I smile at him; it's kind of hard not to.

Now, I decide to take a look around the room. It's totally disgusting. Clothes and wrappers on the floor, and a few empty record sleeves. A few random socks are strewn along the side of the cot. It still smells the same though, like Steven. And surprisingly, it's not a bad smell. It's kind of like... well, I'm not sure how I would describe it.

I'm almost tempted to start cleaning things up, but of course I'd never do that. That's just gross. Something catches my eye in the other corner of the room, though. I look closer. They're pictures; only a few of them. I step closer and pick them up.

There's one of him, Eric, and Michael, and Donna in grade school. One of the entire gang on their graduation day, but I'm still in it anyways. There's a few of him and a blonde girl... it must be that slut Sam. There's a picture of Michael, mid-air, falling off of the water tower. And finally, there's one of him and I.

I don't recognize the picture, or whatever the event was. My hair looks shorter, and I have bangs. We're standing together, hand in hand, at a party in the Formans' driveway. We look really happy... even Steven. I'm smiling up at him, and I look so unaware, like I have no idea what's in store for me. What will happen.

I study the picture intently. You can see Fez and Caroline talking in the background of the picture, and there's a birthday cake on a table, too. It must have been a party for Eric, because I remember that he has a summer birthday.

I set the pictures down again, just as they were, and turn around to leave the room, but my foot gets stuck under a jacket and some foil, and I trip, attempting to keep my balance. It doesn't work, though, and I gasp as I fall.

Once I hit the ground, I see Steven's head snap up. "Who's in here?"

"Um." I feel my face growing red. "Sorry."

"Jackie?" He squints at me as though to make sure it's really me, then a look of recognition passes on his face. "Oh, sorry. I totally forgot about yesterday."

"It's okay. Better than forgetting the previous two years of your life," I comment.

"Yeah, whatever." He grabs his glasses and put them on. "Now, what the hell were you doing in my room?"

Crap, what am I supposed to say? That I wanted to catch a glimpse of him sleeping? That I saw the picture of him and I?

"I thought I heard you... calling for me. So I came in and tripped over all this crap on the ground. Seriously, ever hear of a maid, Steven?"

"Bull," Steven says. "And no. Unfortunately, some people are normal and can live without a foreign woman sweeping up their floor," he mutters. "Really, why are you in here?"

"I-I don't know," I stutter. "I thought that... I wasn't sure if you were in here, so I came in to check. Then I looked around and... I saw some pictures."

He stares at me in shock. "What pictures?"

"These," I say as I walk over and pick them up.

He takes them from me and looks at them. Then he sees the one of him and I. "I haven't seen these in almost a year," he admits, "so don't go thinking that I keep /this/," He gestures to the picture of us, "in here as a reminder of you. Believe me, you're hard enough to forget as it is."

I smile. "If that was supposed to be a burn, it didn't work."

He looks down and blushes. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you talk too much and it's hard to not hear you in my head running your mouth about something pointless."

I just glare. "Whatever."

He just stares at me for a moment, then pauses. "Will you get out?" he finally asks, irritated.

"Fine," I say exasperatedly, and walk out of the room.

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It's breakfast, and we're all eating at the table, except for Donna. She's living at college, but visits often.

It's pretty quiet in the kitchen, with the exception of the clinking of forks and knives on plates, until Eric breaks the silence.

"So, uh." Eric looks up at me awkwardly. "Did you sleep well, Jackie?"

"Yeah, I guess." I glare at Steven while saying, "Thank you, Eric."

Kitty laughs. "Well isn't this nice."

"Nice?" Red snorts. "This makes getting shot at by a commie seem pleasant!"

"Oh, Red." Kitty just gives a small smile and takes a bite of her eggs. "Did you have a nice flight, Jackie?"

I nod. "It was alright. I was just worried about being ambushed by fans."

Steven snorts, but doesn't say anything.

"I /totally/ understand," Kitty sympathizes. "Those /crazy/ people out there! They don't realize that... you're normal, just like the rest of us. Even if you've been on TV and in magazines!" She throws her arms up in the air for emphasis.

The silence occurs again.

"Hey, um, do any of you know a Randy?" I ask to just break the silence, taking glances at Red, Kitty, Eric, and of course, Steven.

"That guy with the weird hair?" Red asks.

Steven narrows his eyes at me. "He used to work for me. How do you know about him?"

"He's... he's a taxi driver. He drove me here... he said he knew you guys," I say, even though I know the story.

"Randy's a taxi driver?" Steven asks in disbelief, and then laughs. "Never thought it'd be that bad for him."

"He seemed nice," I say simply.

"He dated Donna," Eric puts in. "That's all they've told me about him," he adds.

"He used to come around, help around the house with Steven," Red tells him. "Did a hell of a lot better job than /you/."

"Thanks, Dad," Eric says sarcastically and places a hand on his heart. "Always nice to know how loved I am."

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An hour after breakfast was finished, I decide to take off and see the sights that I haven't seen in a while. As I grab my coat, Steven approaches behind me.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"Why do you care?" I shoot back.

"I don't." He looks at me. "I was just wondering how you could go anywhere when you don't even have a car?"

Ooh. I forgot about that. "Um..." I start, but can't think of anything. "I forgot about that, I guess. I'll just... walk."

"You? You're gonna walk? I just can't see that happening, considering you're so worried that you'll be ambushed by fans everywhere you go," Steven sneers.

I ignore him and continue putting my jacket on.

"Where exactly do you plan on going? This is Point Place, not Hollywood. No random landmarks here, except that giant wheel of cheese in Kenosha," he says.

I roll my eyes. "I don't know. See places that I haven't seen in years. Just... everyday things."

"Sounds fun," he comments sarcastically.

"Whatever," I say. "Tell Mrs. Forman I went into town."

"Sure," he says, and walks away.

I turn around and walk out the door. Soon enough, I'm greeted by the sights of homes and trees. I walk for about five minutes or so before I find the place I've been going to. The water tower.

It's still the same; the water tower still has a pot leaf, "Michael + Jackie", and something of a genital, but now there's something new. It says "Charlie" on it in big letters. Hm, it must be some random kid vandalizing it just like we did.

There's a car in front of the water tower, which is kind of odd, but I ignore it because I'm so happy to be there.

I climb up the ladder, carefully as I always did, until I'm at the top. Then I see a shadow lurking around the other corner of the water tower and I gasp.

The shadow turns and walks my way. At first I'm scared, but then once I see the face, I break into a huge grin. "Michael!" I shout, throwing my arms around his neck.

"Jackie!" He hugs me back until I pull away. "What are you doing here?" he asks me.

"I was sightseeing!" I explain, smiling. "I thought you were coming over later on!"

Michael says, "Well, Betsy and Brooke wanted to go shopping, so I just decided to come up here. It's kind of my spot... well, technically, it's Charlie's, but..."

"Who's Charlie?" I ask.

"You forgot?" he asks. "Remember, Charlie is the son of one of Red's war buddies... well, he was anyway. He hung out with us for a while, and one day we brought him up here and... he fell off. And died."

"That's so sad!" I say in amazement. "You've fallen off so many times and you're fine!"

"I know!" Michael grins and looks at my hand. "So you're married now!" He gestures to my left hand.

I look down and realize the diamond on my finger. "Yeah... I guess I am."

"That's funny," Michael says. "I always figured you'd get Hyde to finally propose, and-"

"You ruined that!" I exclaim. "Remember?" I'm not angry, but I'm exasperated that he doesn't even consider how I'm feeling.

"Oh... yeah."

"I... I woke up a few days ago. I thought it was 1978; I thought I was with Steven still," I tell him.

"What, are you crazy?" he asks. "Why?"

"Because I was in an accident," I say. "And I lost some memory. I have no memory from the end of 1978 up to a week ago. I didn't even know you moved."

"Wow, Jackie," Michael says. "I bet it was a shock waking up next to Alexander Ralwine, if you know what I mean." He grins.

"No," I say and roll my eyes. "I was in a hospital. Anyway," I lean over the gate to look down, "That's why I came back to Point Place."

"That's crazy." He shrugs and then grins and looks me up and down. "You know, Jackie, you're looking really hot-"

I stop him. "Michael, really? I'm married." I lift up my hand.

"Never stopped me with anybody before." He grins.

We sit down on the edge of the water tower, and I just smile and roll my eyes. "I missed you, Michael. I missed everything about Point Place, actually."

He raises his eyebrows. "Everything? Like Hyde?"

"Michael, ring!" I lift up my left hand again, then sigh and give in. "Of course I've missed him, Michael."

"I knew it." Michael stops grinning and looks at me seriously.

"Well, I mean, I just wake up and I think... you know, I've said this too many times." I shake my head.

"He hates when we mention you," he says randomly, as if it will make me feel any better.

"Oh wow, thanks Michael," I say sarcastically.

"No, I mean... that says something, doesn't it?"

"That he hates me?" I ask in a small voice.

"No." His voice becomes serious. "Jackie, I think he still might... you know. Have feelings for you."

"Funny, Michael. I'm not sure how you managed to keep a straight face while saying that."

"Jackie, I'm serious!" he says, and then stands up.

"Whatever," I say, getting up along with him. "He sure doesn't act like he does."

Michael just shrugs and looks over the gate. "I think I just heard Brooke and Betsy."

"Betsy!" I haven't thought of the baby in ages. She must be a little girl by now. "How old is she?"

"She'll be three in a few months." Michael proudly grins.

Ohmigod. I can't help myself from gasping. "I only remember her from when she was about... a month old!"

"Brooke!" Michael calls from over the water tower. "Come up here!"

"Are you crazy?" Brooke asks and shakes her head. "I'm /definitely/ not bringing Bets up there. Just come down." She squints and notices me. "Who's up there with you?"

"Jackie!" Michael grins and starts climbing down the ladder, which I had started to do once Brooke and Betsy arrived.

"Jackie?" Brooke narrows her eyes and looks as me as I hit the ground.

"It's me!" I say as I rush over to them. "Oh my God, Betsy, you're so big now!" I smile at the little brown haired girl.

"Mommy, who is she?" Betsy asks and gives me a weird look.

"She's... your godmother." Brooke picks up her daughter and turns back to me. "Jackie, what are you doing here?"

"I'll explain," Michael offers once he makes it over to us.

Michael tells Brooke the story, and she nods toward me sympathetically.

"That's horrible, Jackie," she says slowly.

"Yeah, it is," I agree, and turn to Betsy. "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby!" I exclaim, and then realize that I sound like one of those old ladies you encounter at a family reunion.

"Oh." Betsy looks back at her mother, then back at me. "You're pretty," she says.

"Thank you!" I smile. "You're very pretty, too."

"I know," Betsy says, causing us all to laugh.

"Well, should we get going to the Forman's house?" Brooke asks.

"Sounds good. Jackie, you need a ride?" Michael asks me.

"Um... if you wouldn't mind, yeah," I say.

"Get in the car, then! It's no big deal."

We drive to the Forman household. It's great to see Michael, Brooke, and Betsy. I'm amazed at how much different they seem. Michael seems more mature somehow. Brooke is still gorgeous, and is basically the same. And Betsy... wow. She's so cute!

I open up the door to find Red and Kitty in the living room. "Look who I found when I was out!" I say, letting Michael, Brooke, and Betsy in.

"Oh, Betsy! You little doll!" Kitty rushes over to her and kisses her face.

"Hi, Miss Kitty," Betsy says.

Hm... I wonder where Steven is. Oh, and Eric. I start to walk towards the kitchen.

"Now, Jackie, honey, where are you going?" Kitty asks me.

"Oh, I'm just going... to check on my stuff in the basement," I say, and go down the stairs.

I sit down on the couch and pretend to watch TV, casually glimpsing at Steven's door. It's shut, though. He couldn't possibly be sleeping. Maybe he just left or something.

I continue watching whatever's on TV until I finally hear the door creak open. I see Steven walk out. I start to say 'hi,' but then I see a girl come out behind him.

"I'll see you later, Amber," he says, kissing the girl on the cheek as she walks out of the door. To my amazement, I feel jealousy flare up inside of me.

"Oh, Jackie," he says casually. "Didn't see you there."

I narrow my eyes. "Even when the TV was on loudly for the past fifteen minutes?"

He gives me a blank look. "Whatever."

"So..." God, I don't want to sound like I want to know, but... I want to know! "Who's the girl?" I ask casually.

"Oh, that's my friend Amber," Steven says. Oh, that really helped.

"No, I mean... are you two seeing each other or something?" I ask.

"Nah." He shakes his head. "I mean, we used to, but no, not anymore."

"Oh." She's lucky, if they're still friends. I mean, look at me and Steven. We used to date... and now we barely speak.

"I heard Kelso and Brooke upstairs," Steven says.

"Yeah, I found him at the water tower," I say.

"Oh... he didn't fall off, did he?" he asks.

I laugh. "No... surprisingly."

He stands up and goes upstairs without warning.

I shut off the TV and am quick to follow him into the living room. 


	6. Lies The Paparazzi Told Me

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It's nice to know when people like my stories. Anyway, keep them coming, and check out Hiding My Heart, too!  
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The next day had come and gone, and dinner had just ended in the Forman household. Then again, it seemed to take forever to me. Lately, everyday has been really long. Do days lengthen in the future?

Eric and Donna had just gone down to the basement with Steven, so I decide that I should follow.

Once I get down the stairs, I see Donna and Eric on the couch, and Steven in his chair. They're all holding a can of beer.

I sit down on the other chair, seeing if they'll acknowledge my appearance. Donna, of course, does.

"Hey, Jackie." She smiles and gestures toward the shower, which was loaded with a few boxes. "Want a beer?"

"Um... sure." I walk up and grab one. I'm usually not too fond of beer, but why not, I guess. I crack it open, sit down, and take a drink. It's nothing special, just a fizzy amber beverage.

Amber. Ugh, why do I keep thinking about that? Why do I /care/?

I mean, so what if Steven was once my boyfriend. He ditched me for a stripper! And... this Amber chick.

I take another drink and frown into the can, finally deciding to just set it down. I finally notice that the TV's on, so I glance at it to see what everybody's watching. Oh, yay, another rerun of All in the Family.

I lean back and watch it for a couple minutes, and then it ends. Once the credits are finished playing, a news flash comes onto the screen.

"Coming tonight," the announcer says. "All about the forest fire in Kenosha- how it started, ended, and who got hurt."

"Also," the female announcer says, "we'll tell you all about what's going on with Jackie Ralwine. This is coming up next; but now, onto the weather."

The screen flashes to a map of Wisconsin until Steven changes the channel.

"Wait!" I yell. "Aren't you gonna keep that on?"

"Well, look who's full of herself," Steven comments.

I blush. "No, not that. I just... I wanna see what they say. If it's like, bad, or true. Whatever."

"Yeah, Hyde," Donna agrees. "I wanna see it, too."

"Fine." Steven sighs and flips it back to the channel we were on. It's still the weather, but after the next commercial break, I'm sure that the story will be on.

"What do you think it's even about?" Eric asks in an uninterested tone.

I shrug. "Probably about my memory loss."

"It wouldn't be," Donna informs me. "It was in the magazines all last week."

I think about what they would say. I swear, if it's about...

The news is back on. I shift in my seat nervously.

The news anchor starts talking. "So, everybody has been talking about Jackie Ralwine's memory loss, which occured due to a harmful car crash last Thursday."

The female anchor cuts in. "But now, there's more exclusive news!" She pauses dramatically and looks straight into the camera. "And we have it all from a person who wishes to remain anonymous."

A picture of me with Alex flashes on the side of the screen, with the headline 'Alex and Jackie- no more!'

"According to an insider, a specific famous actor and model duo are calling it quits due to another woman. Apparently, one of her best friends caught her husband with one of his co-stars three times!"

"Wow, Janine, that's a lot," the male anchor comments. "And now, we've heard Jackie has moved on and out of Los Angeles, we've been told, back to her home in Wisconsin. Divorce papers are supposedly being sent to where she's staying."

"Also: Jackie's secret affair? More in a minute." Janine gives a friendly smile to the camera as it fades to black and a commercial appears.

"Affair?" I exclaim. "I couldn't have been having an affair. And I'm not moved out here! And there's no divorce papers!" I pause and something hits me. "And who told?!"

"Definitely none of us," Donna promises. "I swear to God. But Jackie, don't let it bother you. They do that to celebrities all the time!"

"Yeah, but none as famous or as important as me!" I exclaim. "Believe me, Donna, I'm going to be absolutely ambushed if I go out there! Which is why I'll need you and your big man-hands out there to protect me at all costs."

Donna gives me a look and rolls her eyes. "Jackie, you would remember if you had an affair, right?"

"I... I don't know. I mean, usually, yes. But that seem so unlike me." I have /never/ cheated, with the exception of the cheese guy when I was with Michael. But he totally came onto me first!

Suddenly, Kitty comes downstairs. "Jackie, you have a phone call!"

I'm confused. Who would call /me/? The only people I know are in this city, and...

I pick up the phone that's next to Steven, ignoring the dirty look he's giving me. "Hello?"

"Jackie," I hear Genevieve's voice say. "All the newspapers, TV shows... it wasn't me," she says breathlessly.

"Genevieve? Wait, how did you get this number?" I ask.

"Operator. Phone book. I don't know, all that matters is that I didn't do it!"

"Who can it be, though?" I ask.

"I don't know who else knows. Maybe it was Georgia. I don't know."

"It's definitely nobody in Wisconsin. They wouldn't know." I pause, and then say, "Wait, what's with the 'affair' thing?"

"I don't know!" she exclaims. "Never heard of you having an affair. You never even mentioned another guy to me. It's probably something that somebody made up."

"Hopefully," I agree.

"One more thing... Alex is going crazy. I stopped by your house to give him a piece of my mind about him lying to you, and he threatened me. He told me that he knew I told you, and that I told the press. Honestly, I'm scared, Jackie. He knows where I live; knows Victor... my husband, by the way. I'm going to have to leave town. He's a powerful man." She sounds freaked, and I barely know the woman.

"Wait, just a second." I stop her from continuing any further. "Listen, Genevieve. If you're that scared, then... why don't you just come by me? I mean, you and... Victor. Whatever." I hear Donna, Eric, and Steven sigh in exasperation.

"In /Wisconsin/?" Genevieve asks as if I'm crazy.

"Believe me, it's not that bad. You two could check in a hotel or something. There's a couple nice ones around here."

"I'll consider it... what was it called again? Point Park?" she asks.

"Place," I correct her. "Now, sorry, but I have to go. The news is coming back on. I wanna see what ridiculous crap they put up about me." I hang up.

"Who was that?" Eric asks. "'Cause my mom doesn't like when we make long distance-"

"Shut up, Eric!" I shout, and grab the remote from Steven, turning it up, and then sitting down in the chair I was in before.

Janine, the news anchor, stares into the camera, making it seem like she's looking directly at me. "So, who has heard of Point Place, Wisconsin?"

Everybody on the set shouts, "Not me!"

"Well, now it's all the rage. Jackie Ralwine has fled to her hometown in a desperate escape from famous husband, Alexander Ralwine, due to him cheating on her."

The male anchor cuts in. "But is she a hypocrite?" He stares into the camera. "Word from an anonymous source is that Jackie has moved on quite quickly to a local." A small picture of me stepping out of the plane at the airport and standing next to some guy I don't even know comes on the screen. "Apparently this man has been Jackie's secret lover for some time now, even before she caught Alexander cheating."

I gasp. "Who is that guy? I don't even /know/ him? It was crowded and I was standing by him, so /what/?" Oh my God, these people in the business are crazy.

"Dillholes," Donna says. "Why don't they mind they're own business?"

"You owe my mom money from the long distance phone call!" Eric exclaims, standing up and pointing at me.

"My God, Eric. Fine, it's not like I don't have it anyways." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Who called?" Donna asks.

"My supposed best friend at home. Her name's Genevieve, and apparently my husband is threatening her," I say and take a quick glimpse at Steven to see if he frowns at the mention of a husband. But of course, he's totally expressionless.

Eric started, "She's not staying here is she? Because I swear, Red will get so mad if any more kids come stay h-"

"Don't worry, Erica," I say, rolling my eyes at how much of a girl he seemed at the moment. "She and her husband will be staying at a hotel." I glance at the TV to discover that the news has now moved on to a segment about a dog that seems to bark the alphabet.

"Good," Eric simply says.

"So, when's she coming in?" Steven asks, which surprises me.

"I don't know. I guess she'll get a flight for tomorrow." I shrug.  
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Now, it's the next day, around two o'clock. I know that Genevieve's flight is coming in at two thirty, and I have to meet her there. Unfortunately, I know I can't go alone.

"Donna!" I call, running to the basement because I know she'll be down there.

Sure enough, she's down there, sitting next to her wimpy boyfriend. "What do you want, Jackie?"

"I need you to come with me to the airport to get Genevieve," I say.

"Sorry, I can't," she says, getting up off the couch. "Eric and I have to help Red bring in the new refrigerator and he's bound to come home with it any minute now."

I frown, and I'm about to ask why she doesn't just let Steven help Red, considering Eric's no help, but Donna interrupts me. "Why don't you just get Hyde to do it?"

I stare at her. "Are you crazy?"

She rolls her eyes and walks over to me. "Jackie, think about it. Red, Eric, and I are working on something, Kitty couldn't help you if she tried, and Fez would just try and look down your shirt the whole time. Hyde's your final decision."

"And last resort," I say sharply. "Do you know how much he seems to hate me, Donna?'

"You seem to make the feeling mutual," Donna quips.

"Well," I say, thinking. "He probably won't do it anyway."

"He will if I talk to him," Donna says, raising her eyebrows.

"Ugh." I sigh, sitting down on the couch. "Fine, Donna, go ahead. Do whatever you want."

"I'll be right back," she says, and walks out the door.

"Somebody's looking forward to some awkward silences," Eric says in a sing-song tone.

"Oh, shut up, Eric," I say, crossing my arms. "I'm going for Genevieve, and Genevieve only. Oh, well, her husband, too."

"Alright. Just make sure you bring some ice," Eric says.

I give him a weird look. "Why would I do that?"

"To treat the burns you're gonna get!" Eric grins just as Donna returns.

"He said he'll do it," she says proudly.

"Really?" I say in disbelief. "Without putting up a fight?'

"Uh..." Donna trails off. "Somewhat."

The door opens to reveal Hyde holding his pair of glasses, which are now broken. "Thanks a lot, Donna," he says sarcastically.

I raise my eyebrows, looking at Donna. "Well, whatever. Can we go, Steven?"

"Whatever," he mutters, and I walk out the door with him.

We walk to the car and I get in the passenger seat, with him in the driver's seat.

"What do you need me for anyway?" he asks. "You could have just taken the car."

"I don't know. I didn't want to go alone. And for the record, you driving me wasn't my idea. It was Donna's."

This shuts him up and he just puts the keys in the ignition and we drive off.

After a minute of an awkward silence, Steven turns on the radio, playing a Styx song. He quickly changes it, putting on a new song that I've never heard, with heavy guitar and bass in it. Definitely the type of thing he would listen to.

"What time's her flight get in?" Steven asks quietly, eyes still focused on the road.

"Two thirty," I say. "And yeah; I know it's already 2:25."

Steven just nods and we sit there, listening to the music.

Ten minutes later, we're at the airport. I step out of the car carefully, making sure not to fall, as my heels are four inches high. Steven slowly follows me, as if he really doesn't want to. I know he doesn't anyways.

Once we're in the airport, I look around and spot a board in the distance that tracks the flights and if they've landed or not.

"Steven," I say, "I'm going to look at that board. You coming?"

"Nah." He waves a hand to show me he doesn't care. "I'll just wait here."

"Okay," I say, and turn around, walking towards the board. I get to it, and notice that Genevieve's flight hasn't landed.

"Ohmigod," I hear a voice behind me breathe. "It's true! You're here!" I turn around to see an adolescent, complete with braces, staring at me in amazement. "Jackie Ralwine!"

A group suddenly starts gathering around me. "Why did you leave Alexander?" "Where's your secret lover?" "What brings you to Point Place?" "Where are you staying?"

I ignore them and start pushing through the crowd, trying to get around them. "Where are you going, Jackie?" Cameras start flashing.

Now, I'm furiously trying to escape, until somebody puts an arm around my shoulder and trys to pull me away. I gasp and turn around, seeing a man attempting to lead me. I start yelling, wondering where Steven had gone. Quickly flitting my eyes across the crowd, attempting to avoid being blinded by the flashes, I try to find him.

I start freaking out. "Oh my God," I whisper, trying to get away from the man's grasp. People start taking more and more pictures, and I am too scared to do anything now.

"Hey, man, let her go," I hear a familiar voice yell.

I try to turn around and I see Steven trying to get through the crowd. He's pushing through people, and finally makes it to me, though others are still trying to get around him.

"I said let go of her," he says again, punching the man on the arm.

The man lets go. "You really wanna start that?" he asks.

"Wouldn't be the first time I beat a guy," he says. "In fact, it wouldn't be the first time I beat a guy for Jackie either." I noticed by the look on his face that he instantly regretted saying it, not only because he sounded sweet, but also because the people were now asking him if he was my 'secret lover.'

He ignored them, pulling me away as hard as he could. "Come on, Jackie. You can't stay by all these people."

"Where do I go?" I ask, whispering loudly.

"I... I don't know." He looks down for a second, then quickens his pace, dragging me with him. "I should have came with you up there. Sorry."

"It's... it's okay," I say over the shouts of people as we start running. "I think her plane's here!" I yell.

"Okay, where's it at?" he asks loudly.

"D7!" I yell, and we run there, people still following us. "Steven!" I shout. "Can you grab security, please?"

He gives me a weird look. "Only if you come with me!"

That's understandable. "Okay!

We grab security, who puts the people back and sends them to wherever they're supposed to go, allowing Steven and I to talk at normal volume.

"Um, thanks," I say nervously, "for that."

"No big deal." He casually starts walking for the gate again, so I follow him.

"Yeah, it is. God knows what could have happened if you weren't there," I say, trying to catch my breath.

"Yeah, well, whatever." He stares ahead.

"Is there some reason you never look me in the eyes?" I ask, giving him a weird look.

He turns towards me, sans glasses since they're broken, and looks straight at me. "You happy?" He looks ahead again.

"Whenever I talk to you, you look straight ahead," I say. I know he won't know what to say to this.

He ignores me for a second, then turns towards me again. "Why does it matter? Come on, I think your friend's here."

I look, spotting Genevieve waving in the distance at the baggage claim, and look back at him. "It matters. I don't know. Are you not comfortable with me?" I know how to push his buttons and I know that this will embarrass him. It's funny when he's speechless.

Like I predicted, he blushes a little bit. "No, I'm perfectly comfortable with you." He turns red again, realizing what he says. "Come on, Jackie!" he says, waving his hand toward me and walking faster toward Genevieve; probably eager to escape from that conversation.

"Jackie!" Genevieve runs towards me with a man, who must be her husband. She hugs me, and whispers in my ear, "I'm so sorry about Alex and the news, but I swear to God it wasn't me."

"I believe you," I whisper back, letting go.

"Now, Jackie, I know you've met Victor before, but you probably don't remember him. So, Jackie this is Victor. Victor... well, you know Jackie."

I take a second to look at him. He's handsome, with nice green eyes and dark hair, but he's a bit on the short side. Then again, I'm one to talk.

"So... who's this?" Genevieve gestures to Steven.

"This is... Steven Hyde. He lives at the house that I'm staying at," I say, sending her eye movements that should indicate to not mention how I used to talk about him.

I guess she gets the hint. "Hi, Steven. I'm Genevieve." She offers a hand, and he takes it. Then she introduces Victor and Steven.

I take this moment to glance at Genevieve. She's in a standard black dress with heels; her bright blonde bobbed hair and bangs falling over her head. She looks pretty.

"Well, I guess we should get going," Steven says, so we all head back to the El Camino, awkwardly walking out together.

God, this car ride is going to be awkward. I just can't wait until we're back at the Forman house. 


	7. Genevieve and Victor

I steadily step out of the car, pulling Genevieve with me.

"Come on," I urge her, "you'll love these people. I mean, sure, they seem weird at first... but I couldn't let you go to the hotel without meeting my friends before that!"

She smiles. "I'm excited!"

We walk into the door, and I see Steven and Victor out of the corner of my eye. They're not saying anything to each other, which probably means that they're listening to us.

I take this as an opportunity. "So... what's the word on Alex? We never got to talk about our relationship, so can you kind of... explain it to me?"

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Fine." We stop walking and she turns to face me, the boys still behind us. "You and Alex... had a pretty... quiet relationship for the most part. The tabloids made it seem like more than it was. I mean, at first you two were crazy about each other. But then... I don't know. He became shallower, and I guess it just kind of turned into a mess."

"Why did he become that way?" I ask, now interested in more than just bringing Alex up again.

Genevieve shrugs. "He was always that way. He just hid it well at first because he liked you that much."

"If he liked me that much, why would he cheat on me?" I ask, keeping my voice down.

"It's Hollywood. You have to expect these things." She gives me an apologetic look.

As we're sitting in the living room, I realize that Donna and Eric are downstairs.

"I totally forgot what we came here for!" I exclaim, dragging Genevieve with me downstairs. Of course, the guys follow.

Once we make it down the stairs, I see Donna and Eric making out on the couch.

"Ew, gross!" I shout, and flop down next to them on the couch. "This is Genevieve, and her husband Victor. They're staying at the local hotel. Well, the nice one, anyway."

"Nice to meet you." Donna nods in their direction.

"Yeah." Eric does the same. "And Jackie? What nice hotels are there in Point Place? I mean, really."

I shrug. "We'll find one."

Steven walks over and sits in his chair, reminding me vaguely of the incident at the airport.

"Oh my God, I forgot to tell you guys... Steven, like, saved me from this crazy guy. I swear, it was crazy! That's why I needed you there, Donna!" I throw my hands in the air for emphasis.

"Jackie, I didn't save you," Steven cuts in, rolling his eyes. "I was merely trying to save the guy some torture from your loud mouth."

I open my mouth in protest, but Donna interrupts me. "Aw, Hyde. It's always nice to hear some kind things to come out of yours," she says sarcastically.

I try to say something again, but Genevieve coolly interrupts me. "I think it's about time you helped me and Victor find a hotel... right, Jackie?"

"Um... yeah. Okay." I smile and start to walk towards the door. "Steven, you mind if we use the car?"

"Whatever." He waves me off.

"I'll be right back," I tell them, and take the keys that he hands me.

"I can drive, if you want," Victor says as we walk to the El Camino. "If I recall correctly, you never were good with driving."

"Sounds good," I say, and hand him the keys. "Just be careful. I don't want Steven hating me any more if anything happens to the car."

We sit in the car. "Speaking of Steven," Genevieve says, and grins at me, "what's going on between you two? He /is/ the guy you always talked about, right?"

"I guess so." I shrug. "Apparently we had some... disagreements.... stuff happened before I left. Something about a... stripper. I don't know."

"I know." Genevieve nods. "You told me all of this. They met in Las Vegas after he thought you were cheating on him with your other ex boyfriend."

I look at her in amazement. "I must have talked about this a lot."

"Yeah," Genevieve admits. "You still had pretty strong feelings for him. Have, I mean."

I narrow my eyes. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Well, Jackie, don't get me wrong, but... you used to talk about him all the time. Right before the accident, in fact. So feelings can't just vanish, especially when it seems like last week you were dating him." Genevieve gives me a small smile.

"Wait," Victor interrupts. "Jackie, you dated this guy?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "He's the one who sent me over the edge... to L.A."

"Huh." Victor continues driving.

Genevieve goes on. "So what I'm saying is... you must still love him. You seem like you do, the way that you seem to.... argue, and stuff."

I sigh. "I don't know. Maybe I do. But that doesn't change the way he feels about me. And I know that he thinks I'm... as good as... a Little River Band record."

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Genevieve asks, confused.

I frown. "He hates the Little River Band." o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

HYDE'S POV:

After Jackie and her fancy, famous friends leave, me, Forman, and Donna are sitting in the basement.

"So what do you think of Jackie's friends?" Forman asks us.

"They seemed nice," Donna says. "They barely talked though."

"Seemed alright to me," I say.

Huh, Jackie. It's weird, like, I hadn't thought about her in forever, and then out of nowhere she just shows up. Okay, that's a lie. I have thought about her, but only from time to time. Only...

Somebody opens the door, but I'm too distracted by my thoughts to even look up.

"Hyde," Donna calls, even though I'm barely listening. She waves a hand in front of my face. "Hyde!"

"Huh, what?" I snap out of it and glance at her.

"I said, your girlfriend's here," she mutters.

I look up and see Amber. "Oh, uh, hey. Let's go in my room." I lead her to the small doorway as Forman and Donna start 'oohing.'

"Shut up!" I yell out at them. Assholes.

I close the door, eager to block out Forman and Donna. I quickly turn around to face Amber. "What did you... what are you here for?"

"Can't I stop by to say hello to my fiance?" she asks, smiling at me.

"Come on, Amber." I roll my eyes. "You never come unless there's a reason. What's up?"

"Well... okay." She sits down on my bed and motions for me to join her, so I do so. "I was just thinking. We've been engaged for eight months now, and... well... nothing's happened. No plans, no nothing."

I sigh. Not this again. "Why do we have to rush? I'm in no hurry."

"If you're in no hurry, then why did you ask me to marry you?" she asks, sounding a little angry.

"I did because you practically forced me to!" I shout at her, causing her to draw back in fear. She stands up, looking sad, scared, and mad at the same time, and starts pacing around my room.

"So what? You don't want to marry me then?" She throws her hands in the air and starts looking at the things on the floor.

"I didn't say that," I comment.

It's quiet for a few seconds as her eyes are still focused on the floor.

"You have pictures of me on the floor," she says, taking notice of the photos. "Of me and you." She picks them up and starts leafing through them. "Only three. Why only three, Hyde?"

I shrug. Doesn't she know when to stop? "I didn't feel it was necessary to cover every inch of my room with photos of you."

She ignores my comment and continues looking through the pictures. "Aw... there's one of you and your friends when you were little." She looks up at me and smiles, flipping to the next picture. "Oh, that's nice. Some random guy flying off of a water tower."

"That's Kelso. The idiot guy we talk about that moved to Chicago," I say.

"Oh. Well, I can see why he left," she says, raising her eyebrows and flipping photos. "Graduation day. That's cute." She inspects it a little closer. "Who's the girl that's not wearing the cap and gown?" she asks, pointing to Jackie.

I look at the picture. "That's my ex, Jackie."

Amber narrows her eyes at the photo and flips to the last one. She frowns, seeing that it's of me and Jackie; we're holding hands and she's smiling at me. "Is that... Jackie Ralwine?" she asks, sounding amazed.

"Uh... yeah, I guess so," I say uncomfortably. It's weird to hear her with another last name now.

"You dated her?" she asks incredulously.

"Yeah. For a couple years."

"Oh my God. It totally makes sense." Amber stares at me. "I've heard all the stories about her moving back here. About how she grew up here. She's staying here, isn't she?" she asks, looking mad.

I nod. "She's staying on the couch out there."

She rolls her eyes. "A girl other than me is sleeping one wall away from you? A famous and divorced one at that? And an /ex girlfriend/?!" She gives me a 'look.'

"It's no big deal," I say. "I barely even talk to her."

Amber stays silent for a couple seconds, and sits on my bed again. "You haven't even told your friends, have you?" she asks quietly. "About us. You haven't, have you?"

"No," I admit. I don't want them running off telling everybody that we're engaged, especially when I'm not very sure about it as it is.

"Well." Amber sighs and looks at the floor. "I guess I'm just gonna leave now." She gets up and walks away, leaving me sitting there in silence.

After a minute, I get up and go into the main part of the basement. I sit in my chair and notice that Forman and Donna are staring at me.

"What's with you?" I ask them.

"What's wrong with your bitch?" Donna asks. She doesn't like Amber that much.

I scoff. "I don't even know."

Forman comments, "You two have been together a while, huh?"

"I guess. Almost a year, I think." She's my first real relationship after Jackie, too, I remember.

"When are you gonna trade her in for another one I can stand?" Donna asks pleadingly.

"Yeah, really. Even /Jackie/ was better then this one," Forman puts in.

"What's so bad about Amber?" I ask. I never even see them communicate with each other.

"Are you kidding me?" Donna asks. "She's rude, obsessive, needy-"

Forman finishes her sentence. "Even /I/ can see that!"

I shrug. "Well, what can I do," I say, leaning back in my chair.

"Uh, ditch her?" Forman asks in a hopeful tone.

I'm about to respond until the door opens. I quickly turn my head towards it, figuring that it's Jackie. Sure enough, it is.

"Did you guys find a hotel?" Donna asks her as Jackie sits down on the only open end of the couch.

"Yeah. I found them a decent one. I think it was the one that Steven worked at. The place where he cheated on me with the nurse." She glances at me, her eyes shooting a menacing glare.

"That's good," Donna says awkwardly, noticing the stare that she's sending me.

I try not to look back at her, but somehow my eyes wind up locking with hers. God, she's hot. Everything about her is always so... perfect. Tight clothes, high shoes, great body... I realize that my eyes are drifting elsewhere, but then her voice interrupts me.

"Steven?" she asks abruptly.

"Yeah?"

"Quit staring at me," she says, turning back to Donna and pulling a pillow over her chest, blocking my view.

What the hell, she was staring at me first. Oh well, too late to say anything now. Why am I checking her out anyways? I'm /engaged/, even if I really don't want to be married. Plus, even if I wasn't, Jackie's made it pretty clear that she's not into me anymore anyways. Well, except for when she first got here and kissed me. But I was supposed to be the logical one and stop her, right? She's freakin' married!

"Hyde," Forman says, interrupting my thoughts. "You okay, man?"

I turn to him. "Yeah, why?"

"You sounded like you were talking to yourself or something. No big deal." Forman shrugs.

"Yeah, maybe he's going crazy," Jackie comments.

"If anybody's crazy, it's probably you," I shoot back at her. "You're the bitch who ignored us for a few years, then you barge back into our lives like nothing happened."

"Do I /have/ to tell the story again?!" she asks angrily.

"Well, I'll say this. Had that accident not happened, you sure as hell wouldn't be in this basement with us right now." I lean back in my chair casually, like I don't care anyways.

"You know what, you're probably right," Jackie says, which surprises me. "I became a bitch, and-"

Forman laughs lightly, interrupting her. "No offense, Jackie, but... weren't you always a bitch?"

Jackie rolls her eyes. "Do you guys /want/ to wreck this epic moment where I admit that Steven's right?"

"Alright, alright." Forman waves his hand. "Continue."

"I became a... bigger bitch. And that accident took back all the years of whatever made me worse. And so now... it's just like I'm a teenager again." She shrugs and kind of lowers her head.

I raise my eyebrows. I wasn't expecting this. I look at Jackie, who now stands up and walks upstairs to do God knows what. I just roll my eyes.

"Man, what was that all about?" Forman asks.

"What?" I ask.

"I don't know. The staring at her, arguing with her." He laughs. "It's just like when you two were dating."

I'm about to come up with a smart response but the door opens again, revealing Amber.

I sigh. "What do you-"

She interrupts me. "Hyde? Can you explain /this/?" She holds up a magazine with a picture of me holding Jackie's arm on the cover; the headlines say "IT WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME I BEAT UP A GUY FOR JACKIE," in big, bold letters.

I stare in shock as Amber pulls me into my room. 


	8. That Bitch

A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, guys! They really inspire me and encourage me to keep on going! This, similar to the last chapter, will be in both Jackie and Hyde's point of view in different sections, just to get a peek in their minds, and so you can know what either one is up to without the other one there. Anyway, here's chapter eight; review, and enjoy!  
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"Hyde, I can't believe that you, of all people, would stick up for her!" Amber exclaims at me. "I mean, you could care less about anybody, so why would you try and help her? I bet you wouldn't help /me/!"

I roll my eyes. "The guy practically had her in a chokehold. I'd go to hell if I ignored that."

"Oh, please. You know you're already going to hell anyway." Amber looks at the magazine again. "I just, I don't know what to do anymore. You never give a rat's ass about me, but then /Jackie/ comes along and it's all different."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask. "How do I not give a rat's ass about you? Remember two weeks ago when I bought that jewelry you wanted? That, my friend, was a given rat's ass."

Amber sighs, and at first I think she's gonna blow up at me again, but then she sits down and seems calm. "You know what? Forget it." She gives me what looks to be a forced smile.

"Alright, come on. Let's go see what Forman and Donna are doing." I start walking towards the door.

She gives me a hopeful look. "Does this mean we can tell them we're getting married?" she asks when we start walking out the door.

"What?!" I hear Donna yell, and when I step out, I see her giving me the weirdest look.

JACKIE'S POV:

After I had admitted that Steven was right about me, I went upstairs to get a Coke. Once I came back down, I noticed that Steven had left. I didn't even mention anything about it, because... well, I don't care. At least, I shouldn't care. Right?

"Thanks for getting me one, Jackie," Donna says sarcastically.

"Oh... sorry." I smile sheepishly and look toward Steven's door, noticing that it's shut. I quickly move my eyes, for fear that Eric or Donna will notice where I'm looking. "So... what'd I miss?"

Eric laughs. "Well," he starts.

Donna shuts him up, giving him a stern look. "We talked about... fruit."

I give her a weird look. "Always about the food, isn't it, Donna?"

She rolls her eyes. "Why is there nothing ever on TV? God." She's flipping through the channels, but nothing seems to come up.

"... are doing." I hear Steven's voice and the door opening.

"Does this mean we can tell them we're getting married?" a female voice asks.

My neck jerks toward them. Who? What? When, where, /why/?

It's Amber, that girl from the other night.

"What?!" Donna exclaims toward them.

I see Steven give an exasperated sigh, putting a hand on his forehead. "I told you to shut it."

Donna stares at them. "What's this all about?"

At about the same time, Amber gasps and points at me. "It's /her/."

I'm almost too shocked for words. Almost. "What about me? Who are you?" I lie. You know, it's truly amazing that I never made it in the acting business.

She simply holds up a magazine, giving me a 'look.'

I read the headline and gasp. Then I try to act like I never lost my cool. "What about it?" I pause again. "And who /are/ you?"

"I'm Amber, Hyde's fianc e." She gives me a smug look again.

My heart kind of freezes for a moment. "And, my other question?" I ask, ignoring the feeling in my chest.

"Well... you and Hyde are kind of on it. Together."

Steven shakes his head at her. "Amber, will you shut it? I thought you said you were gonna forget about it."

"Not when she's here." She pulls Steven to the side, talking quietly, but we can still hear her. "I don't want you to ever talk to her again, okay?"

He shrugs. "Whatever." He walks away and sits down.

Donna stares at him in disbelief. "For the third time, what is the whole marriage thing about? You just listened to us insult her and didn't say anything?"

Steven nods. "Pretty much."

"Um, hello? Still here." Amber waves.

"When did this even happen?" Eric asks.

"I don't even remember." Steven scoffs and leans back, and it's quite obvious (at least to me) that he wishes that they weren't talking about this. Then again, he's always been that way. He doesn't like the spotlight, unless it's for something bad he did. I smile at the thought, then remember where I am and the smile vanishes.

"Yeah, and tell your bitch of a girlfriend to not drag me into this," I add.

"Jackie, shut your piehole." He rolls his eyes at me and stares at the TV.

Amber jumps in. "Hyde! I told you not to talk to her. /And/ I'm the only one you tell that to! Me!"

I stare at her in amazement. Why did Steven chose to be with /her/?

"Amber, for God's sake," Steven mutters.

"If you talk to her again, I'll break off the engagement." She raises an eyebrow in a 'ha ha, what can you do now' sort of way.

"Hey, Jackie, pass me the remote," he says, still staring at Amber, his eyebrows raised now.

Her mouth opens, and she's at lost for words for a minute. "Okay, I'm not gonna break it off. But I really don't appreciate you being by her."

Upon hearing this, Steven gets up and sits next to me. I try not to smile, but I'm not sure if it's because he's sitting by me, or because he's trying to irritate Amber.

"Hyde." She glares at him. "Do you /not/ want to be with me?"

"I didn't say that," he simply says.

"So you do want to be with me."

He stares at her. "I didn't say that either."

She throws up her hands. "Well, say something! I'm so... sick of this!"

Steven looks down. "I'm not ready for marriage, I'll tell you that."

"I can give you time." She looks hopeful.

"You know what? I don't need time. Maybe /we're/ not ready for marriage. And won't be. Because really, I never expected to get this far with you anyway."

Amber looks shocked, and I notice a tear starts to fall down her face. "Are you sure?"

He nods slowly, causing Amber to grab her purse and walk out the door, and we can hear her start to sob once the door shuts.

Eric turns to Steven. "Hey. You okay, man?"

He nods. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," I say to him, just turning my head since he's next to me. "I didn't mean to cause all of this."

He gets up and goes to his chair, which disappoints me a little. "It's fine. I was waiting to get rid of her anyway."

"Hyde, you don't make any sense," Eric puts in. "I mean, you married Sam, right? None of this 'I was drunk' crap either, I mean, you stuck with her. And then you were engaged to Amber, who was extremely annoying, but somehow she conned you into it. And then there's the freaking devil," He gestures to me, "And she couldn't get you to propose? No sense, man."

"Don't bring me into this, Eric," I say. "I don't even remember it."

"Yeah, shut up, Forman." Steven inhales deeply, in an irritated manner.

"You know what? I'm clearly not wanted here," Eric jokes. "Come on, Donna. To the shuttle!" They headed upstairs.

"I don't even know what they're gonna do," Steven said, shaking his head.

I lean over toward him, because I know that my shirt is low cut. "Steven... if that girl meant anything to you, I'm so sorry."

I see him glance down for a second, then pause to meet my eyes. "It's fine. I swear I was sick of her."

"That's a good theory, Steven," I shoot at him. "Use them once or twice and throw them away?"

"Nah, not that. She was just too... bitchy." He laughs, so I smile.

"Were you really gonna marry her?" I ask.

"Doubt it. /Really/ doubt it. I just don't like commitments, I guess," he says, looking down my shirt again.

"So I've heard. And stop that!" I playfully swat him.

"What?"

"You know what," I say, and pull up the neckline of my shirt so he understands what I mean.

He just grins at me. Then his face gets serious, and I can tell that he's about to open up a bit. Which, as we all know, is rare for him. "You know, you haven't changed."

"If you're talking about my boobs, then you're wrong," I joke, implying that I know I had surgery on them.

He shakes his head, laughing. "No, I can tell the difference there." He glances down for the third time and then gets serious again. "But I mean... personality."

I raise my eyebrows. "Still a bitch?"

"No. Well, yeah, I guess, considering how you acted towards Amber and everything. But, I don't know." He stops.

"Keep going," I say, waving my hand around. "How have I not changed?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, I guess you're still... happy, playful, and... full of yourself." He smiles, but I know he's only half joking.

"That's cool," I say in a zen-like manner.

"You haven't forgotten /that/, huh?" Steven asks.

"Nope. Zen has stuck with me through it all." I laugh, then pause. "How was I... before I left?"

"I don't know. You became meaner. Don't really blame you, though. You didn't really have anybody at that point." He shrugs.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well, Donna kind of had her own thing going on. Plus, she kind of befriended Sam, I guess. Kelso left, too. So I guess you just left." He shrugs.

"Huh. Things got pretty screwed up for me after we broke up then," I say, feeling my face heat up as I say the words.

"I guess." He looks at the floor. "I'm gonna go see what Forman and Donna are doing."

"Thought you said you didn't wanna know?" I raise my eyebrows. "Anything to get away from me, huh?"

He blushes. "No, it's not that."

"Be honest. It is. It's awkward and weird being around me, especially since I've been gone so long. Admit it."

He sighs. "Fine. It is kind of weird. Really weird, actually."

I'm about to respond until I hear the phone ring. We both jump at it, but then stop as we see the other go to get it. Eventually, it stops ringing; somebody must have picked it up upstairs.

"Jackie!" Kitty calls from upstairs. "It's your friend!"

I grab the phone. "Genevieve?"

"Yes, it's me. First off, I wanted to say that his hotel isn't completely horrible. There haven't been any bugs or anything... yet." She pauses and waits for me to respond.

"Yeah, well, it's not that horrible. I went in /plenty/ of those rooms when..." I trail off when I realize that Steven's still in the room. I probably shouldn't bring up our old sex life. "Anyway, what else did you want to say?"

"I forgot my other purse at the house. I think it was on the couch?" she asks.

I check and see it wedged in between the curtains. "Yeah, it's right here."

"Could you be a darling and bring it over?" she asks me.

"Um, hold on." I look at Steven. "Can I use your car?"

"For what?"

"Genevieve left her purse here," I explain. "I have to bring it back."

He sighs. "I'll take you."

"You sure? I can just dri-"

He stops me. "I can take you. Tell her we'll be right there."

"We'll be right there, Gen," I say into the phone.

"We?" she asks, then must remember. "Oh, right. The guy that you're madly in love with."

"Am not," I hiss. "Anyway, gimme a few minutes and we'll be there."

"Okay. Bye." I hang up and Steven grabs his keys while I get the purse.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Yeah. Come on." We walk out the door, walking up the stairs and soon we're in the car.

We drive there and it's mostly silent. He doesn't even bother with the radio this time. Once we're there, he waits.

"Go run it in. I'll wait."

By now, it was raining like crazy, and an empty feeling had started to form and continued to linger in the air.

I grab the bag, running it in as fast as I can without getting soaked. I make it to their room, and after a quick knock, Genevieve answers.

"Thank you so much, doll!" she exclaims, then notices my strange expression. "What?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"Well, come in! Where's that guy of yours?"

"He's waiting in the car, so I can't come in. And he's not my guy! Stop saying that!" I put a hand to my head in exasperation.

"Sure, he isn't," she says, smiling menacingly.

I roll my eyes. "Well, I have to go anyway. So I'll see you tomorrow."

"Of course. Bye!" I walk away as she shuts the door.

Running as quickly as I can, I still manage to get drenched in rain, which really sucks because I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt. I make it to the El Camino, with my clothes and hair all wet.

"Well, you really caught the rain," Steven says.

I laugh bitterly. "Of course I did." I shiver and rub my arms, crossing them in front of my waist.

"Nice, no jacket either?" he asks.

"Nope. It's summer, why would I bring a jacket?"

He shrugs. "Well, I don't have anything in here, so, sorry."

"That's okay."

We drive in silence again, and after a few minutes, I start shaking again. Steven gives me a weird look.

"I'm fine," I insist.

"Whatever you say," he says as we continue driving. 


	9. Restarting

The next morning arrives quickly. I wake up on the basement couch to a loud noise. My head jerks up, and I see Eric, toppled over a box of junk.

"Thanks a lot, Eric," I say sarcastically. "Way to have your clumsiness wake me up." I turn towards Steven's room. "You're lucky you didn't wake Steven up, too."

Eric gives me a weird look. "Why do you care if I wake him up or not?"

"I don't," I insist. "I just... I know he'd be mad."

The weird stare he's directing at me hasn't subsided one bit. "Why would you care if he got mad? At /me/?"

"I don't!" I yell at him, unsure of what to say. "I'm changing, get out!"

"Devil," he mutters as he heads upstairs.

Instead of changing like I said I would, I just turn on the TV and start flipping through the channels. No quicker than a minute into it, though, Steven comes out of his room.

Upon hearing his door open, I whip around. "Um... if the TV woke you up, I'm s-"

"Nah, I heard you yelling at Forman," he interrupts me, taking a seat in his chair.

"Oh... sorry about that." I quickly look away.

"S'okay." He glances at the TV set. "What are you watching?"

"I don't even know. Nothing's ever on in the morning anyway," I say. "I think I'll just go upstairs and see what Mrs. Forman is making."

"Alright. Tell 'em to come get me when we eat."

I nod and stand up, awkwardly going up the stairs. Mrs. Forman spots me right away.

"Jackie!" She beams, then gives me a look of horror. "You don't want to help with the food or anything, right?"

I shake my head. "No, don't worry. Cooking isn't a hobby of mine."

"Well, clearly." She laughs and goes back to flipping the pancakes on the griddle. "Is Steven coming up?"

"He said he would when breakfast is ready," I told her.

"Okay, well... oh, that's the last one! Be a dear and tell him I'm done, honey." She smiles, so I go yell for him.

He comes up reluctantly, and soon Mr. Forman and Eric are down, too. I take the empty seat next to Mr. Forman and watch Mrs. Forman set the food on the table.

"So how was last night, kids?" Mrs. Forman asks as she sits down. "Steven, I heard your little girlfriend come over last night."

"Yeah." Steven takes a bite of the food, not looking up. "We broke up."

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry." She sympathetically smiles.

I notice Eric looking smug out of the corner of my eye, but I don't say anything.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Girls are just a pain in the ass." Steven laughs slightly.

"Oh, boys, you know I like to pretend that you don't say that stuff. Girls are a pain in the... keister!" She laughs, then frowns.

"Keister? Girls aren't a pain in the keister. I like Donna just fine." Eric grins and takes a bite of the pancakes.

"Yeah, well that's because Donna is a different kind of girl, unlike the types I usually date," Steven says snarkily. "The whiny, needy ones. /Those/ are the ones that are a pain in the keister."

"Alright, next person to say keister in this house is gonna have my foot up theirs," Mr. Forman comments.

They all shut up and we continue to eat.

"So Jackie," Mrs. Forman says, "When's the last time you saw your parents?"

"Um... I don't remember," I remind her. "It's probably been a while."

"Sorry, honey. I keep forgetting." She goes back to eating.

Mr. Forman clears his throat suddenly. "Alright, Steven and Jackie."

We look up instantly, first at each other and then at Mr. Forman.

"The Toyota's getting pretty bad, and, well... there's a Packers game on this afternoon... I'm sure as hell not trusting Eric with the car, and I figured you two should do it." Mr. Forman smiles proudly.

I'm shocked. I don't want to work with Steven! But I definitely am not willing to refuse any of Mr. Forman's orders... ugh.

"Whatever," Steven simply says, standing up and putting his plate in the sink.

Mr. Forman looks over at me. "And you, Jackie?"

I nod. "Sounds... good."

"Alright. I'd like to see the two of you out there in an hour," he announces.

Eric looks up. "Dad... you sure I can't help this time? I mean, I'm a grown-"

"I'm not taking my chances, son." Mr. Forman gets up and walks out of the room, leaving me to think of what I have to do. Ugh.

An hour has passed and now Steven and I are standing in the garage. I'm not really sure what to say, so I pick up a tool and start working. I may barely remember the past two years of my life, but I still remember how to do this from so many years ago.

We start working on the car, and it seems as though years have passed without us saying a word. Finally, Steven leans out from under the car.

"Jackie?" he asks softly.

Here it is. He's gonna say something big, I can tell. "Yeah?" I ask back, trying to sound equally as quiet.

"You screwed up with that tire, I'm pretty sure."

I frown. He wasn't supposed to say that. "I think it looks fine."

"No, see." He points at it and shows me my mistake.

"Okay, well, I'll put it on differently," I tell him.

"I should probably do it. I mean, you did it wrong last time," he says, inching closer to the tire.

"No, I can do it. I should finish what I started."

"You didn't start anything; you did it wrong."

"I can /do/ it, Steven."

"Just let me do it, Jacks."

Suddenly we're arguing nonstop over this tire. This stupid, meaningless tire. Yet we're acting as though it's a life-changing event that only one of us can experience.

"Give me the wrench, Steven."

"There's another one over there."

"That one doesn't work the same way. Give it to me, Steven!"

He raises an eyebrow. "No. See, I'm already doing it." He starts fixing it, and this just steps on my last nerve.

I roll my eyes and push him away from the tire, on the floor. But then... oh my God. I've fallen on him, too. I am /laying/ on top of him.

I'm too stunned to do anything, and Steven looks as though he's about to say something. Just as he opens his mouth though, I lean in and kiss him. He kisses me back this time, and all of a sudden, we're just laying on the garage floor, making out.

I'm in such a euphoric state, I can barely think. I'm not thinking about the consequences, about my cheating husband, about anybody walking in on us at any given second. I'm not thinking about my career, or my best friend, or any of my really embarrassing moments, like the time when I fell down the stairs when I first met Genevieve.

Wait. Did I just remember something?

I quickly pull back. "Steven," I say abruptly, getting off of him.

He looks at me. "I know. We shouldn't be doing this. But man, this is wronger than any of the other times. And you look really hot with grease on your face-"

"Steven. No, not that. I know all of that. But... I just remembered something," I say.

"What? That Red'll kick our asses if he finds out that we haven't finished yet?" He smirks in a knowing way.

I shake my head. "No. Well, yeah, but no. I mean a /real/ memory, Steven. You helped trigger a memory!"

"Well, that's... great." He looks confused.

"Wanna trigger some more?" I smile innocently at him.

He grins. "You betcha."  
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A few hours later, me and Steven are finished working in the garage... ahem, /working/. Now, everybody's strewn around the house, doing what they'd normally do. Once Steven and I parted and started doing our own thing around the house, it got awkward. We're now pretending that we're barely talking again.

I'm about ready to leave with Donna to go to Genevieve's hotel room, and I'm trying to not spill to Donna about everything that just happened. But, ugh. It's so hard!

"Donna?" I say as we walk out the door, "Have you ever been in the situation where you shouldn't do something if you want to get technical, but in your reality it seems fine because it's like nothing that's happened actually exists? And then you do it, and... well, you want to do it again, but you just /can't/, and-"

"Jackie?" Donna asks. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing," I say quickly.

"Jackie, I know you. You don't shut up if it's nothing. And, even though I barely heard you, that sounded like something." Donna smirks at me.

"I just... I don't know. It's just the confusion of the memory loss, I guess," I lie. "It's supposed to make you say crazy stuff, too at first. I think."

Donna looks at me again, then turns away. "Whatever." 


	10. Here's To The Past

A/N: Sooo sorry I barely update anymore! No, I'm not abandoning this story. I'm just busy, and FF is rarely on my mind anymore, now that summer has come and gone unfortunately. Anyways, please review )  
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"I'm so tired," Donna mutters as she slams the car door. We just got back from going out for a girl's night with Genevieve. Of course, Donna didn't want to go, but I obviously forced her to.

"I know, I'm pretty out of it, too," I say as we walk up the driveway. I open up the door to the Forman household, and it reveals Eric and Steven, sitting at the table eating ice cream.

"So what I'm saying, man, is that it's not rational for her to keep on staying h-" Steven stops talking as he notices us come in.

Eric gets up. "Hi, Donna," he says, and kisses her, "Jackie," he nods toward me.

I just smile in acknowledgment and glance over at Steven. "What were you guys talking about..?"

"Me?" Steven asks. I nod, because it's obvious. He looks back at me and I can tell he's thinking because he pauses for a few seconds. "I was just talking about Amber. She should... move out of Wisconsin."

"Somehow," Donna comments, "I don't think either of us believe you." She sits down nonchalantly and gives Steven a knowing look.

Steven shoots her a glare. "Donna, why don't you-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Eric butts in, eager to prevent a fight from starting, "You ladies are tired, am I right? How about you get in your PJ's, and me and Hyde'll put a movie in for the four of us."

I'm about to accept the offer, until I hear Donna decline. "Thanks but no thanks," she says. "I've had enough of you two for the day." She points at me and Steven, then walks out the back door. "See you in the morning, Eric!"

"Bye, Donna," he slowly says. "Alright, what about you two? Movie?" he asks.

"Sounds good to me," I say.

"Nah, I think I'll just head to bed," Steven says. I think he just feel awkward around me, after what happened in the garage earlier. God knows I'm being hypocritical I could tell how red my face was when we walked in the door.

Eric looks at me. "Usually, I prefer to not spend my evenings with Satan. But, I think I'm desperate."

I smile, trying to think of something witty to say back, but nothing's hitting me. "At least I'm not... a mama's boy!"

"She got you there, Forman," Steven agrees before heading to the basement.

"Aw, come on. Are we gonna have a debate, or are we gonna watch a movie?" Eric asks.

"I'll go with the second one," I laugh.  
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The ending credits come on, and I feel myself yawning.

"Tired?" Eric asks me.

"Yeah," I admit. "I think I'm gonna go downstairs and go to bed."

"Okay," he said. "See ya in the morning."

I head downstairs and think about how nice it was to just hang out with Eric without the stabbing insults. I wonder if I'll ever be able to hang out with Steven that way. No fighting, and no making out. Just friendly gestures and being respectful. Caring, even. Then again, this is Steven I'm thinking about.

Once I make it down the stairs, I hear the TV going. I see Steven, sitting on one of the chairs, watching commercials.

"Um, Steven?" I ask. He jumps when he hears my voice.

"I didn't mean to scare you," I say.

"Yeah, whatever," he mutters.

"So, um," I start. "I hate to bring this up, but-"

"Yeah, Jackie, I'm going to bed," Steven interrupts me, gets up, and starts walking to his room.

"Steven, wait!" I shout.

He turns around and sighs while glaring at me. "Yes?"

"Can we /please/ talk?" I ask.

Steven sighs again. "Whatever." He walks toward me and sits back down. "What's up?"

"Are we just gonna ignore what we did earlier?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes. "Jackie, most people don't address these things so bluntly."

"Steven, I'm serious," I insist.

"Yeah, so am I," he says. "Most people just ignore those things. When people have sex, especially when they usually don't speak, then they usually don't bring it up again."

"Well, I just want to know what's going on between us," I say. "Like, are we still enemies? Friends? ...more?"

Steven sighs and puts his head in his hands. "I don't know, Jackie. Do you really think I care?"

"Yes, Steven, I do!" I shout at him. "Because I remember when we were together you cared! And everybody said that we were best when we were together! And that /must/ count for something!"

He's silent for a moment, then he finally looks up at me. I have this slight hope that he's just going to smile and agree with everything I just said. That he'll just run up and hold me, like I always wanted. But sure enough...

"Jackie, that was the past. This is now. I'm going to bed." He walks to his room and shuts the door.

For a moment, I sit there, stunned. I stare at the TV for about three minutes, then I get up and knock on Steven's door. "Steven?"

"Yeah?" he asks from behind his door.

"...are you happy with your life right now? I mean, really."

I hear him take a deep breath. "If I say no, will you leave me alone?"

"No, Steven." I angrily open the door. "I want you to be honest with me. Are you happy?"

He rolls his eyes at me from his bed, and I can hardly see it. "Really, Jackie?" he asks in an irritable manner. Then he's quiet for a minute. Finally, he answers, "No, not really."

"And were you happy with me?" I ask, eager for an answer.

"Well, I don't know," he says.

"Steven, you were gonna propose to me. You better have loved me. You must have been damn happy," I say sternly.

He's quiet again. "Yeah. I was happy."

I knew it. "Then /why/ won't you accept me into your life again?"

"Because I don't want to be happy or attached to a girl. It's ridiculous, and it's not me. So get out, Jackie." He rolls over.

"No," I say, and I walk over towards him. "Steven, I'm not ignoring this."

"Jackie, there's nothing to ignore," he says, sitting up.

"Yes, there is. There's an entire past, the parts I remember and the parts that I don't. There's what's going on now. And there's what's yet to come. And really, I don't understand why you're like this." I say.

"You've known me for a long time, Jackie, and you know I've always been like this. I don't know how it can be such a shock to you," I hear him say.

"Still, Steven. I don't get it. And I'll never know if I still feel this way because of my memory loss or if it's stuck with me, but I know that I still love you." I look him straight in the eye.

He stares at me. Then, he stands up and faces me. "Jackie, you know I've cared about you in the past. And... I know I care about you now..."

"See? Why is it so hard to accept, then?" I interrupt.

"It's... listen, Jackie. You don't get me. But, I do... care about you. I just have a tough way of showing it. Especially when we're not together," he says.

"Then let's be together," I say as I wrap my arms around him, and we kiss.

Once it's over, though, he steps back. "But you're married." 


	11. Danger, Danger

A/N: This chapter is going to have a little bit worse language than usual, so, just a warning... anyway, please enjoy & review!

After that happens, I can't sleep no matter how hard I try. I keep on replaying everything that happened. Then I think about Alex. I think about how I could have possibly married him, especially when I don't see how I could have gotten over Steven. Ugh, it's so horrible... I mean, I never would have pictured myself as ever being the type of girl to want a divorce. But, when you hardly know the person...

******

It's morning, and I'm still thinking about Alex. I wonder why he hasn't tried contacting me... maybe he's just busy with his costar again. That sickens me, but at least I don't love him. I don't even know him.

Quickly, I get up and go upstairs. I decide to call 'my' house in Hollywood, to talk to him. As I enter the kitchen, I see Mr. Forman reading the paper at the table. He sees me pick up the phone.

"Who you calling, Jackie?" he asks.

"Um... my husband," I say, scowling at the word.

"No damn long distance calls from the house!" Mr. Forman reminds me, then stands up and hands me five quarters that he just pulled out from the drawer. "Go to the payphone next to that Hub, or whatever you kids call it."

"Okay. Thanks, Mr. Forman!" I smile and rush out of the door, eager to do the deed before I chicken out. Once I get to the payphone, I put the money in and dial, holding my breath.

"Hello?" a foreign woman's voice answers.

"Um... hi. It's Jackie. Is Alex there?" I say feebly.

"No, honey, he's on set. Call cell phone."

"Cell phone?" I ask, confused.

"Just type in 243-555-1023," the woman explains.

I want to ask her what a cell phone is, but I don't want to waste my quarters on this call. "Okay, thanks, bye." I hang out and dial the new number before I forget.

He picks up on the third ring. "Yeah, well we can take a quick five minute break so I can take this! Obviously, it's more important if it's for me!" I hear Alex yelling at the stage crew. "Hello?"

"Alex?" I ask, my voice sounding incredibly faraway.

"Jackie, baby." He sounds cool but tense. "How's Wyoming?"

"Um... it's Wisconsin. And it's great. But, um... do you have time to talk?"

"Of course," he said quietly, then yells, "Cancel everything today, this is important!"

Then I hear a woman say, "Why are you making things so difficult, honey?"

"Georgia, this isn't the time," I hear Alex say sharply.

"Who was that?" I ask quickly.

"The... my costar. She's still acting and doesn't realize that I'm /not in character/."

"Um, actually, Alex. I wanted to talk to you about something I heard."

"Like what?"

"Like that you're cheating on me with Georgia DeTraino... that costar?"

He's silent for a moment. "Wh-what?" He exhales sharply. "The paparazzi are screwin' with you, Jackie, you know that. Or maybe you don't, since you forgot everything."

"Um... I didn't hear that from the paparazzi..." I say, trailing off uneasily.

"Who'd you hear it from, baby?" he asks, answering incredibly fast.

"Genevieve, who would never in a million years lie to me. Or hit on my husband, or call me a slut, or steal from me," I say, feeling more angry than meek now.

I hear him sigh and hit the phone. "Fuck that bitch! Fuck her! I told her to stop fuckin' saying stuff! Damn it!" I can hear people coming around him, asking what's wrong, but I don't care.

"So it's true!" I yell into the phone. "I knew it was, too! Now you've admitted it!"

"Shut the hell up, Jackie, okay? I don't fucking need this right now, I really don't." He sounds really mad.

"Like I do? Listen, /I'm/ the one who doesn't know what the hell's going on, okay? All I have to say is that I'm glad that I'm talking to you through the phone and not in person, because I don't know what I'd do if I was," I say.

"Sure, like I'm not pissed? What the fuck!" He sighs again. "When I get a hold of her..."

"You won't!" I yell back. "You won't get a hold of her because you won't find her!"

"Believe me, I'll know. Wherever the hell she is, she'd better fucking watch it!" he yells.

"Stop saying 'fuck!'" I order him. "And no, you won't so don't go thinking you will! I'll make sure you don't!"

I hear him laugh. "But what if I-" It cuts off. "Phone call has ended. Please put twenty-five cents into the dispenser to continue the call."

Damn. I'm out of quarters. And I don't know what he was going to say. Damn. Now I'm scared. I turn around after hanging up the phone, about to walk to my car, when I see the crowd of people standing behind me quietly, listening in. Once they see me turn around, they immediately start asking questions.

"Was that Alex?"

"What's wrong in the relationship?"

"Did he really cheat?"

"Did he find out about your affair?"

"Is he abusive?"

"Was he just screwing Georgia DeTraino?"

"Is he gonna kill someone?"

"Shut up!" I yell. "It doesn't matter who I was just talking to, or who I was talking about!" I look around in the crowd and notice that almost all of them look familiar. Then I realize, some of my old cheerleader friends are in the group.

"Janie? Susan? Claire?" I look around them, and they are in awe as I do so.

"Jackie? You remember us?"

"Well, yeah. The accident, you know... memory loss. So, I remember things from when I was younger really well."

They smile back, and while they aren't ambushing me, I decide to go for my car. "I have to go see my friend, so... bye."

Once I'm in the car though, they crowd around my windows. "Are you going to see the man you're having an affair with?"

"There's no affair!" I yell, and start pulling out and not giving a shit if there's people behind me.

Everyone runs out of the way, and I manage to exit the parking lot without hitting anybody.

I got to where I intended, which was to Genevieve's, as quick as I could, and I explained to her the whole phone call.

"It was awful!" I tell her. "He's so... so... ugh! I can't even explain!"

"Well, he's a dick," Genevieve answers for me.

"Well... yeah, I guess. I just wish I knew what he was gonna say." I sigh and look down. "But what if he what? It kind of freaks me out."

"It should be okay," Genevieve says. "I have Victor. He'll make sure I'm okay." She smiles in the direction of the bedroom, which is where Victor is still sleeping.

I give her an uneasy look.

"And, locking the doors and window won't hurt either," she finishes, thinking the same thing I did. 


	12. The Letdown

Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't updated in sooo long. I got sidetracked and excited with new stories. However, I figured it's about time I finished this one! So, please read and review :)

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The day has come and gone, and there is, thankfully, no sign of Alex Ralwine. So now, we're all sitting in the Forman basement.

Genevieve's husband Victor stands straight up. "Jackie, I'm sorry, but your husband is horrible."

I roll my eyes. "I know. I don't even really know him... well, in my mind."

The door to the basement opens, and we all jump, thinking that it may be Alex. Upon seeing that it was just Fez, we settle down.

"We ought to put a sign out there," comments Genevieve, pushing her platinum blonde bangs out of her eyes. "One that says 'Knock three times if you aren't familiar with this building.'"

Steven snorts. "I think that'd be pretty obvious."

"Maybe not!" Genevieve says defensively. "Most people have some concept of politeness in their minds."

"To be fair, you haven't emerged from Tinseltown in years," Steven remarks. "You may have forgotten how people in the real world are."

Genevieve rolls her eyes. "Well, I must be wrong then. I forgot about you," she says dryly.

Steven raises his eyebrows at her. "Listen, I've got plenty of manners. Why, just a few months ago, a hooker approached me, and-"

I interrupt. "Uh, let's not finish this story, okay Steven?"

Steven just sends me a sly smile.

Donna decides to speak up. "Jackie, your friend is in real danger here. Why don't you call the cops on him or something?"

"Well, he's my husband!" I say defensively. When everyone looks at me like I'm crazy, I explain myself. "That could cause complications in the financial aspect of our marriage." I shrug. "I don't know anything about marriage."

Steven shakes his head jokingly. "Still all about the cash for you, huh?"

"Whatever," I say in a zenlike manner.

"You know, Jackie," Donna says, "if you divorce Alex, you could take a good amount of money from him."

Eric gives her a surprised look. "Damn, it's all about money with you, too?"

Donna looks at him and just rolls her eyes. "I mean, I don't know much about divorces or pre-nups, but you could definitely talk to somebody about it." She nods, then adds, "Someone who you can rely on not to tell anybody, or get it around to Alex."

"Not a bad idea," I agree. "I mean, money does make the world go round."

"Aw, Jackie," Eric starts, and I can tell he's gonna be sarcastic. "I thought /you/ made the world go round." He puts a hand on his heart.

"Shut up, Twizzler," I mutter, and everyone cracks up.

"I completely forgot about Twizzler," Steven says. "I'm disappointed in myself."

"You know, I did, too!" Donna agrees, laughing.

"I have Twizzlers!" Fez says, holding up a bucket of candy, and everyone looks. "Uh... I mean, no I don't." He smiles sheepishly.

Victor peers into the bucket. "Do you have any Werther's originals?"

Steven snickers. "Are you eighty-two?"

"Don't be mean to my Victor!" Genevieve glared at Steven.

"Stop picking fights with my friends, Steven," I remark.

Victor steps in. "Actually, I wouldn't say that you and I are technically 'friends.'" He uses air quotes. "But more like you hanging out with my wife, so I tag along."

"Exactly!" Eric jumps up, agreeing.

Victor eyes Eric. "I'm rich, are you?"

Eric's face falls. "No," he mutters.

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah? Well... screw you, Victor!" I then sit down.

"Jackie!" Genevieve shrieks, and I give her a look.

"You don't have to like Steven, so I don't have to like Victor," I say.

Genevieve thinks about it, then nods. "Deal."

"Oh, you all can get bent," Steven says casually.

"I don't mind, because I have friends at the college I teach at," Victor says wisely.

Eric looks at Victor in disbelief. "Wait, you're a teacher, too? Man, you're exactly like me!" Victor gives him a weird look. "Okay, the older, richer, more handsome, non-underdog version of me, y'happy?" Eric sits back down, his pride yet again destroyed. Donna put a hand on his knee to comfort him.

"Well, overall, I just hope that things end safely," Victor says, lifting up his glass of water. "Let's toast. To Genevieve's health, to Alexander not coming, and for Jackie's divorce."

Everyone lifts their cans of soda, beer, or glasses of water, and they clink.

Huh. So this is weird. The rich intermingling with the average. And I suppose I'm somewhere in between, right? God, where do I belong?


End file.
